Lucky Day
by TimberWolfie
Summary: After many years, finally Grace and Eytukan are together as a mated couple. But just how long will it last with everyone against them, and with several surprises along the way? Sequel to my other fiction, 'Stay the Night'.
1. Sticks and Stones

**Finally, it's here! Now I got to be honest with you guys, I have the main plan in my head, but not on paper, so for at least the first few chapters, I am really winging this.**

**So this is the sequel to 'Stay the Night', and for those of you who are too lazy (hey, not judging – I am too, my usual readers can tell you that) to read the full thing, here's all you need to know:**

**Eytukan and Grace had an affair for years before Sylwanin's death in 2153, where he threw her out of the clan. A year later, Jake came to Pandora, made some friends with the Na'vi, and hearing Grace was still around, Jake took her to the clan to see everyone, and Eytukan and her promptly started their affair again.**

**Bree, Grace's niece, came to Pandora herself as a 'fake' Avatar driver, meaning, like Jake, she never took the training and got there by having a deal with someone. She was trained by Tsu'tey, who fell in love with her and took her as a mate. This in turn, naturally, stuffed the natural order of things, and in that time, Mo'at found out about Eytukan's affair and effectively divorced him.**

**During all that was happening, Grace, Bree and Jake got pulled out of their Avatars by Miles, who held them hostage to try and get their Na'vi friends and lovers to come after them so he could kill the whole of the Omaticayan hierarchy before blowing up Hometree. Of course, his plan backfired, but as everyone came to save the Avatars, Mo'at got killed, and Eytukan's best friend, Adaman – who is really awesome, as you will discover – killed Miles with an arrow to the chest.**

**At Mo'at's funeral, Tsu'tey's mother found out about Grace and Eytukan's affair and told everyone about it, humiliating them all. After cheering Grace up, Eytukan proposed, and that brings us to this story. Sorry, that meant to be a really short summary, but that really wasn't.**

**So, now it's six months later, and Grace has become the temporary tsahík of the Omaticaya clan with Eytukan, and not everyone is too happy about it. And with several surprises and complications along the way, hats off to her if she stays with him!**

**Genre: Romance/Drama/Comedy/Friendship**

**Rated M for coarse language, sexual references, sex scenes, possible violence.**

**This story comes in parts.**

**Part One – First Class**

**Chapter One | Sticks and Stones**

' "_**Are you as tired as I am?**_**" she asked him softly, squinting as she tried to wake up.**

"_**More**_**," Eytukan swiftly told her, cutting down any hope of some sleep in as he stood up from the hammock to check on his bow, which he neatly placed in the corner of the room. "**_**But I'm tougher, and I complain less**_**." Grace scowled. '**

Being a leader of a clan had its certain privileges, or that was what the hope was. You could do what you wished; you made the rules and no one stood in your way. That's at least what Grace had hoped for when she mated Eytukan. She was her own boss, with no obligations to anybody. No longer did the higher pecking order look down at her as she was the lowly Avatar; now she did that to them. Unfortunately, as she quickly realised, tsahíks are never their own boss.

"_Come on, Gracie! Up, up!_" came a cheerful voice through the fog of her brain. "_Rise and shine, let's go._"

Giving a mumbled groan of protest, Grace rolled over onto her front, her eyes firmly closed. She refused to get up, until she felt her top being pulled over so that the cold air hit her. Did Eytukan ever take 'no' for an answer? Apparently not… She sighed and stretched, pulling herself up from the hammock. She looked over to her mate, who was stretching himself. "_Are you as tired as I am?_" she asked him softly, squinting as she tried to wake up.

"_More_," Eytukan swiftly told her, cutting down any hope of some sleep in as he stood up from the hammock to check on his bow, which he neatly placed in the corner of the room. "_But I'm tougher, and I complain less_." Grace scowled.

Creaking her neck, she cast a glance outside, between the branches that made up a type of window, and she gave a groan of utter horror. The freaking stars were still out! "_Eytukan, the sun isn't even out yet…_"

Eytukan exhaled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Every day, it was the same old argument, just with a few words changed. When he had mated Grace, Adaman, the ever faithful companion and advisor, had been quick to warn him she wouldn't be able to do all the things Mo'at had done as leader, and Eytukan had been fine with that – he loved Grace, and he had faith in her. But after six months, she could have at least tried to get more used to it. "_A good leader rises before the sun_," he calmly told her, making her clamp her jaw before another disagreement came. "_It's what my father always told me, and I've always stuck by it_."

"_Yeah, well, I'm not a leader – I'm just filling in until Neytiri is ready, remember? And whoever her mate will be now_," Grace shot back. Thanks to Tsu'tey becoming mates with her niece, Bree, the whole Omaticayan leadership had been thrown out of balance. It was most likely why the elites hadn't told Eytukan to kick Grace off her perch and choose a different tsahík – they couldn't get another. That, and the stare that he gave them whenever they started to suggest such a notion made them back off and mumble an apology.

They couldn't be blamed for trying to get Grace off the team – she had no idea what she was doing. Everyone knew it, but they were too softly spoken to say. The only person who seemed blinder towards it was Eytukan, and it pissed a lot of the elites off. Neytiri was firmly in that camp, but she was the only one who wasn't afraid to say it to her father's face, spurring many embittered words between them. Grace was placed within the 'Unsafe Topic' section, and neither of them brought her up much.

The howl of the morning wind brought a chill to the leader's room, and Grace gave a shiver. She had never realised how cold this place got during the middle of the year. While Pandora suffered a tropical climate, there were those two or so weeks where the temperature was what would be cold. "_Can I have my top back?_" Grace asked, seeing as Eytukan had whipped it off of her to get her up. It was an effective way of saying 'Good morning'. "_My nipples could cut stone over here!_"

A bemused chuckle came from Eytukan. "_Well, seeing them like that is a nice sight for my eyes_," he teased, before throwing it back.

Grace deftly caught the piece, putting it back on. It wasn't meant for cold weather, either, since it was the usual Omaticayan clothing, with the women just wearing a top piece and a loin cloth. Grace got something a little extra, which was a cape of red that went around her shoulders. That material was still terribly thin, so it was ineffective against the weather. "_If that was meant to make me laugh_," Grace growled softly, "_It didn't work._"

Eytukan smiled lightly, coming over to her. "_Yet I can see the hint of a smile on your face_," he told her, coming to sit beside her on the hammock. He leant over to press a loving kiss to her lips. "_You'll be fine._" Seeing Grace not quite believing him, he added, "_Well since you've been tsahík, no one has been killed yet, so I think you're in the clear._"

"_Oh, get out of here!_" Grace growled, and Eytukan chuckled and kissed her softly before standing up to leave.

"_Also, don't forget Bree and Tsu'tey are coming home today_," Eytukan reminded her before leaving.

"Right… how could I forget that? Lucky bastards, they get time off," she grumbled to herself. Grace was muttering obscenities under her breath, completely unaware of the second being that had come into her room. She turned around and gave a gasp of fright, swallowing air. "God, Adaman, you scared the hell out of me…"

Her ever faithful healer and friend came over to her, comfortingly patting her back, his strong hand clasping on her shoulder. "Sorry, darling," Adaman smirked, before letting his best friend's wife go. "Are you ready?"

Grace looked at Adaman in confusion. "For what?"

"Ixchel asked to see you."

"Oh, fuck her."

"Grace!"

"I am damn well serious," Grace snarled, clearly pissed off. The healer inside Adaman wondered if her term was here, but he quickly dispelled that idea. "I really wish she'd just… disappear off the planet. Or at least out of my vision."

Adaman looked at his leader softly. "As a leader, you are supposed to love every clan member."

"Eytukan hated Ateyo, and you did too. And Mo'at hated me," Grace reminded her friend. "Some flawed rule you have there then."

Giving a sigh, Adaman looked at Grace gently, trying to ascertain her main problem. "Someone wake up on the wrong side of the hammock this morning?"

"I'll be fine," Grace sighed, rubbing her temples. She was exhausted, as he could tell as he looked at her eyes, seeing the white parts lined with red. "I'm just getting used to this, that's all. What time will lunch be? Maybe I can catch a couple of minutes of shut eye."

"You do not have time for that, unfortunately – but I packed something for you." Grace made a face. "What? It's hexapede steak – your favourite!"

Grace sighed, taking the carefully leaf-wrapped bundle. "Thanks," she answered with a bit of a yawn.

Nodding understandingly, Adaman took her hand to drag her downstairs. "I'll go get you some tonic from the medical centre. Will that make it better?"

A small smile tugged at the edges of her mouth, and she looked at him. "How did I luck out getting a friend like you?"

"I just got low standards."

**· · ·**

After years of heartache, Tsu'tey had resigned himself that he would never find love again. Losing Sylwanin had been the most painful moment of his life, and always would be, he thought. He had thrown himself into his position as a warrior and pushed all other possibilities of a relationship out, thinking he'd be alone for the rest of his days. Besides, he hadn't been the marrying type.

A yell came from Tsu'tey as he felt himself falling forward, before he headed towards the floor. He quickly put his hands out to stop his fall, slapping his palms to the ground but being weary of his wrists. He snarled and whipped around, before immediately taking it back. He smiled as he looked at the woman above him, who leant down to press a loving kiss to his forehead. "Pinned ya!" Bree teased, a triumphant smirk dancing upon her beautiful face, mischievous fires dancing in her eyes. After Tsu'tey had looked into those eyes properly, he had decided he was the marrying type after all.

"Let me up," Tsu'tey smirked, gently pushing Bree off him. He kissed her lips quickly before dusting himself off. "What was with the pinning?"  
>"For fun. Can't I have fun?" Bree acted hurt, before flicking her tail across his chest.<p>

"Well it's not fun if the head warriors mate can pin him."

Bree gave a chuckle, squeezing her mate's hand. "Come on, tiger, let's get going home, hmm?"

**· · ·**

One of the most unpleasant aspects of Grace's day-to-day work was the handling of the clan's troubles regarding other clans. The Omaticaya had very few enemies, mainly since Eytukan had either won them over just before he became leader or after, or they were too terrified to dare stand up to practically the strongest clan in the country. However, there were some that still wanted to pick a battle, particularly thanks to the leadership change. As a general rule, the Na'vi were a gentle folk, though Eytukan and Adaman could tell them otherwise.

Grace sighed as she watched the main warriors argue on whether the best course of action was ignoring the possible threat, or meeting them head to head. This had easily gone on for over an hour, and she couldn't take it anymore. Adaman's tonic had done wonders to wake her up, but now she wished she had some to keep her up. She was finally saved, however, by someone she didn't particularly know if she wanted to be saved by. "Grace?" came a voice from behind her. Grace smiled at the warriors and excused herself, coming to see who needed her attention.

"Hello, Neytiri," Grace greeted politely. "How can I help you?"

A twist downward of the mouth was the response from the princess. She stared coldly at her step-mother, refusing to call her that. She wouldn't. She would not conform to that. Eytukan hadn't made her, and it proved he was smart; he knew perfectly well if he tried that on her, Neytiri wouldn't speak to him again. "You were meant to come and help me at the school today. And you didn't. Again."

A flicker of innocent ears made Neytiri grit her teeth, and Grace sighed. "Oh, God, I know. I'm so, so sorry honey – it completely slipped my mind." The tsahík cast a glance to the warriors before back to her daughter, giving her a smile. "Who knew it would take so long to position ourselves for a possible attack?"

Slowly, a smile came over her face, and Neytiri nodded, understanding. "Oh, it's all right."

"Thank you, I knew you'd understand," Grace smiled, about to head back to the group.

"If there's anything you're good at, it's positioning yourself as tsahík." Grace stopped in her tracks, robotically moving to face her, mouth agape. Neytiri gave her a cold stare before moving away from her, leaving her stunned. "_Hello, father_."

That greeting told Grace of her mate's entrance, but she was too frozen by Neytiri's harsh comment that she didn't react until Eytukan's hand gently touched hers. "_You coming downstairs?_" he asked her softly, smiling. Thank goodness he didn't understand English.

"_Bree and Tsu'tey are back, then?_" Grace questioned her mate, snapping herself out of the induced trance. Eytukan confirmed it with his eyes, taking her hand to go downstairs to the main area of the clan. Neytiri hesitated, and decided to follow them. The three walked out to just outside of Hometree. It was a beautiful spot, she had always thought, with the floor being covered in a beautiful moss that sprang up at their feet. The trees surrounding it made a natural wall of forest, blocking out the majority of the strong sunlight. Bree stood with her mate as Grace came over to her. She gave a wide smile and ran up to hug her; Grace kissed her hair. "Hello, darling."

Bree laughed as she was crushed by her aunt. "Hello, aunt Grace – I'm home," she smiled, kissing her cheek before going to hug Eytukan in return. He smiled and patted her back warmly. Bree was a wonderful girl, and he owed her a lot for bringing the old Tsu'tey back.

"Aww, am I missing out on all the hugs?" came another voice to join the chorus. Tsu'tey looked over to see his friend, Jake, coming over to greet them. He felt strange looking at him, wearing his old feathers of the head warrior. Tsu'tey had traded that in for more feathers, signaling he was the second-in-command. Bree smiled as she saw her friend, coming to hug him. "Ah, much better."

Neytiri looked at Bree, smiling at her gently. "Did you have a fun time?" she questioned as she hugged her.

"Oh, the best," Bree agreed, before she felt the warmth of the hug tugged away. Tsu'tey smiled as he thought Neytiri was coming to give him a hug, putting his arms out to receive her, until she went right past him. He frowned, and followed her path with his eyes to where she went. Jake stiffened as he saw who she went to hug instead.

"Hey," Tsu'tey asked him, "When did lover boy get back from Syawä Na'ring?"

Jake watched as Neytiri cavorted in the arms of Tsyal. He didn't understand what she saw in him. Come to think of it, no one did. He tried to be the man who could tell himself that if she was happy, he was, but that was total bullshit. She should have been with him… This wasn't fair. He had been with her for three months, and had been her shoulder to cry on for ages after Mo'at! This was not how a fairytale romance was supposed to go. "A couple of nights ago," he said, stifling a growl of anger.

Grace shot a look to Jake which was unreadable, before looking back to her niece and Tsu'tey. "Well, come on in. Everyone's dying to see you."

"Um, Grace?" Jake asked as she started to lead the duo away. "Ixchel wanted to see you, I think Adaman told you?"

Biting back a snarl, Grace gave an apologetic look to her niece and Tsu'tey, who nodded understandingly. "See you later. If there's a later for me after talking to her," she added quietly. She quickly kissed Eytukan's cheek. "_I'll be back_," she promised.


	2. The Parent Altercation

**Wow, so sorry this took so long. School is getting so hectic and I just haven't had the drive to finish this until today! Sorry about the long wait and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter Two | The Parent Altercation**

**That just pleased Ixchel all the more. "Oh, look at Grace, trying to search for a witty rejoinder."**

"… **Fuck you."**

"**Mmm, not the most creative," Ixchel said, her ears flicking at the 'leader's' words.**

"I can't believe this…"

"Yes, well I cannot believe that I have been asking you to fix this up for ages, but you've done nothing." The slap of pile of parchment came down upon the floor, between Grace and Ixchel. The older, more experienced woman looked at the inexperienced one. She didn't belong here, she knew that. She had no right to wear the cloak she had, or be married to the man she was with. She had no true clue about the Na'vi politics – that came with years and years of training, not a crash course in a month, which Eytukan had given her. Ixchel watched Grace with narrowed eyes. "You are not really doing too well here, are you, Miss Augustine?"

A scowl came upon Grace's features. "It's Mrs. Tsan'ten to you, Ixchel."

"Well, it is a good thing we Na'vi do not follow that tradition of last names as a general rule." An elegant hand stretched out to push the papers towards her, which was covered in Na'vi hieroglyphics. "Now, I suggest you sort these before the meeting, else you are going to look not the best in their eyes."

A real, all-consuming urge came up in Grace. She had the urge to reach over and sock Ixchel in the mouth. She would deserve it for all of her shortcomings.

Right from the start, Grace had been in Ixchel's crossroads and could do no right. Everything the woman asked, Grace was expected to do, and what was worse, Eytukan enforced it. "_It's just temporary,_" he had told her when she was stressing, "_And Ixchel is a wonderful person. She'll teach you a lot of things that I can't._" Eytukan didn't realise how much of a lie he had told. Ixchel had been Mo'at's advisor for years, and due to it, her mate knew her very well as a close friend. Too well for Grace's liking, but she never said that to his face. Mainly what bothered her about this strange relationship was the fact that Ixchel had completely betrayed her leader, and Eytukan seemed to have forgotten.

It was still fresh in Grace's mind of how Ixchel turned around and completely humiliated the two of them at Mo'at's funeral not that long ago, but Eytukan made no such point to remember. Grace was slowly learning that his outlook on life truly was 'Forgive and forget'. He had done that for her, after all.

"… And you do realise you are not going with Eytukan, right?"

Grace snapped out of her thoughts at the mention of her mate's name, turning to face Ixchel properly. "Huh? What?"

The turndown of the side of the lips told Grace of her displeasure. Giving an exasperated and not at all toned down sigh, Ixchel repeated, "I said, for the yearly council meeting, you do not go with Eytukan. Only olo'eyktans go. You will be in charge of the clan yourself." Under her breath as she looked down at the parchment, she added, "Eywa help us."

"Excuse me?"

Ixchel smiled a little, and turned back up to the leader. "Do you not have sarcasm where you come from?" she questioned. Grace just opened her mouth to retort, but no sound came out. That just pleased Ixchel all the more. "Oh, look at Grace, trying to search for a witty rejoinder."

"… Fuck you."

"Mmm, not the most creative," Ixchel said, her ears flicking at the 'leader's' words. Her words held no power, though they should have. She was higher than this woman, yet there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that whatever she did, her mate would undo. "But, as much as I fear to say it, I have to trust you with organising this. So don't disappoint me." As if passing over a country secret and questioning if she were making the right decision, she handed it over with a snail's pace. Grace just rolled her eyes and snatched it from the woman's hand, turning around to leave, muttering, 'That bitch', under her breath.

Ixchel shook her head at Grace's departure, before getting up herself. She headed out of the council room, where she spent most of her time, and went down the hall, not paying attention as to who was walking in the opposite direction until a voice greeted, "Hello, Ixchel! Having a nice day?"

"I was," came the cutting answer to a disgruntled Bree as her mother-in-law went past. Ixchel had never been the most friendly person on the planet, she knew, but she still tried to make an effort to be pleasant. It was hard for her, as her personality decided that if someone didn't like her, she didn't like them either. She did try for her mate's sake, however.

Bree shook off Ixchel before starting to head downstairs of Hometree. She wondered if Tsu'tey were down there – they had lost track of one another after they came home. She walked out of the main area of Hometree, coming to the open field. A smile came to her features as she spotted him, sitting with some of the young children of the clan. He sat on a log watching them with a keen eye as they played She quietly came over to him, placing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I see you."

Tsu'tey smiled as he felt a warmth grace his cheek, and he turned to his mate. "I see you, too," he told her, quickly turning to peck her lips.

"Aww, thanks," Bree smiled. She frowned then as she looked into his arms, and spotted something of a darker shade of blue curled up and snuggling into him. She peered closely, and her eyes widened as she saw what he was carrying. "Hey… who's this?"

The warrior looked down into his arms, where large, topaz eyes flickered open to look at Bree, who gave a bit of a start. Tsu'tey chuckled. "There's no need to be afraid of little Vorg – he would not hurt a fly. Mainly since he lacks the skill to do so currently," he teased, tickling the baby under the chin, who gave a giggle as he was given attention. The child flailed his arms, trying to grab onto Tsu'tey's hair, but he only managed to get his nose.

"Whose son?" Bree asked as she smiled at the baby.

"Oh, Mariala and Teryan's. They asked me to keep an eye on him for a moment while they sorted out something with Eytukan." Tsu'tey looked down at Vorg, who could have only been about six months old. Bree noticed his eyes as he looked at the child – they were so soft and warm as they watched, but also protective. It was similar as to how Tsu'tey looked at her, except with her there was also love added into the mix. Before she could comment on it, he looked to her, and asked, "Could you hold him for a second?"

Bree stiffened. "Well, I – " She didn't get a chance to say anything as Tsu'tey placed the baby into her arms after he got up from sitting. Her hands reached out to quickly grab the child, hoisting him up by his armpits.

Tsu'tey arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"I'm… holding Vorg."

"Well, he is a baby, not a bomb," Tsu'tey laughed a little, coming to help Bree. "Here, just support him around the middle." He came to place Vorg against Bree's body, who wrapped her arm around him and placed her other arm underneath him. "There."

"Right… Sorry," Bree said, trying to hush Vorg who was getting annoyed that the careful arms of Tsu'tey wasn't holding him. "I'm just not that good with children, I haven't been around them, you know?," she remarked in a soft tone, as if she were scared that someone would hear that comment.

"I know," Tsu'tey agreed. "But they are very cute." Bree looked at him in surprise. He never used that adjective. For the short time she had known him, she had never heard him call anything 'cute' before, except her one time when she explained to him what the phrase meant, and he had tried it on her to solidify his understanding. Turning to see Bree's shocked expression, Tsu'tey chuckled, a sound that usually made her smile. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just don't think I can remember you saying anything was 'cute' before."

"But they are," he said as he smiled at Vorg, who gave a large smile in return. "I am sure ours will be cuter anyway."

Bree's shell-shocked expression didn't waver. Her heart skipped a beat. She quickly became aware once more of her own voice and cleared her throat. "… Sorry?" she asked, a small squeak coming into her voice. She felt her arms start to let Vorg slip, and she quickly pulled him up again.

"Yes," Tsu'tey smiled. "I was thinking we would have a boy and a girl. Hopefully it will work that way so there isn't any competition between them."

" 'C-competition'?"

"Well… Oh, right, you never really had siblings, so you do not know that, but from birth, they are most likely inclined to hate one another, particularly if they are the same sex."

Bree blinked spastically. "Tsu'tey… You think about things like that?"

"Yes. Don't you?"

The negative response sprang to her lips, but Bree held back. She tried to focus on Vorg, who was gurgling and drooling on her arm. And Tsu'tey thought about things like this? "Well… Come on, Tsu'tey, isn't it just a little early to be thinking about kids?" she asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Well, usually when a couple mates, the wife usually ends up pregnant." Bree paled significantly. "What's wrong?"

There was so many things wrong with this. Bree cleared her throat, and then nodded slowly. "All right… Well, I need to go and take a walk. Here, you can take this thing," she said, passing a shocked Vorg back to Tsu'tey, who arched his eye ridge. "And… I'll see you at dinner! Bye, love you!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tsu'tey exclaimed, moving to grab her arm and gently tug her back to him. "Bree, what's wrong?"

Bree's ears went back slightly, and she looked down at the floor. "Um… All right, sit down," she told her mate, gesturing to the log he had been on before. She paced for a moment, trying to think of how to word this. "Look. Children are great, and that's fine. But I never planned on having… one."

Tsu'tey felt his heart sink as he looked at his mate. She didn't want a child? "Why not?" he asked softly.

"Because I just don't feel like I'd be a good mother, you know? And I couldn't have someone depend on me 24/7 for the next twenty years!" Bree breathed out, and came to sit beside her love. She looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Tsu'tey. But I don't ever plan on being a mother."

A small frown came upon Tsu'tey's features. "But you have never experienced it."

"Neither have you! … As far as I know."

"Well, no, I have not. But I think it would be great."

"Tsu'tey, do you realise _what _you've married?" she asked him. Tsu'tey felt a snappy retort come to mind, but he just held his tongue. When he didn't answer, Bree continued, "You've married a half-breed. A hybrid. I doubt I'll even be able to have children."

"We will not until we try."

Bree's jaw clenched. She ran her fingers through her hair before sighing. "All right, Tsu'tey. What we have is great, all right? But I do not want everything decided for me! Okay? I've spent my whole life like that. And I'm sick of it. I don't want you to make all these decisions for us. You have planned out the next twenty years of our lives and we haven't even known each other for one year!"

"All right, all right!" Tsu'tey growled softly, feeling Vorg stir uncomfortably in his arms at the raising voices. He looked around the open space, seeing a couple of eyes had drawn to them. The moment he looked to the members, they quickly looked away. He looked back down at the child, his ears going back. So he would never have a child? Was this how this story went? A longtime dream of his was dashed. "Will you ever change your mind?" he asked her.

Bree looked at Vorg, before up to Tsu'tey. "Will you?"

"… No."

"Then neither will I." Bree sighed and came to sit beside him, giving him a kiss on a cheek. "I'm sorry."

Tsu'tey didn't reply. He felt his heart was so heavy. He brushed Vorg's hair away from his forehead, looking at a dream that was lost.


	3. Little Bird

**Argh I am so so sorry my readers! I just haven't been up to writing these past few weeks, and this holiday I had been dealing with drama and all other problems and thus I couldn't write. If you want to find out more, I did write a fan fiction about it called 'Oh Darling, Don't You Ever Grow Up' – please do check it out! But, thankfully, everything is back to normal and I am happy again for the most part!**

**Anyway, excuses, excuses… I'm sorry about this crappy chapter, but I had to get this back on track. The next ones will be better, I promise, and I will try to write more often!**

**Chapter Three | Little Bird**

"**I could be the good friend here," he said, "And I could tell you, 'Okay, yes, there are other fish in the sea, you will be fine'. But Tsu'tey, listen to me – do not let this one go."**

"She actually told you she didn't want children at all?" Jake questioned Tsu'tey as they sat in the lounge together before breakfast the next morning. "With no wriggle room at all?"

It was something that had plagued Tsu'tey the entire night – Bree didn't want children. How could a woman not want a child? Wasn't that something that was programmed into them, with all the maternal instinct and everything? Women were expected to mate, and have a child, and in a lot of ways men were expected that same ideology. It was a tradition that went on for years, and as Tsu'tey was the last male of his line, it was something that couldn't just stop there. If Ixchel knew that her line was almost ended, she would throw a fit, and would start her whole argument on Bree. "_She is not one of us and she never will be!_" she had hissed to her son once she learned what the hybrid was to him. "_Eytukan mated Grace and it was a shame, and now you're doing the same thing too? Why? She is nothing to you and she should never have been!_" It had gone on for hours, but Tsu'tey had managed to set her off Bree's track. With this now, Ixchel would probably start it all up again.

"I have no idea, Jake," Tsu'tey finally replied, snapped out of his memories. "Bree is not the person who usually changes her mind about something. Not easily anyway, I know that."

Jake thought. "She did change her mind about you though."

"I guess. But this is a bit bigger than that." Tsu'tey leaned against the wall, placing his thumb and his index finger on his temples. "I always assumed I would have a family… After a broken one I was raised in, I always wanted to have a strong one. If Bree says no, this is a deal breaker for me."

Oh God, thought Jake. He cleared his throat and snapped his fingers in front of Tsu'tey's face, getting his attention to him directly. The second-in-command scowled at him for that, but was listening. Jake breathed out, and tried to phrase this in a way to not be too offensive. "I could be the good friend here," he said, "And I could tell you, 'Okay, yes, there are other fish in the sea, you will be fine'. But Tsu'tey, listen to me – do not let this one go."

Tsu'tey sighed softly, his ears going down in defeat. "I do not want to. But what choice do I have?"

"You have a choice – Bree or a baby," Jake said as he got up, seeing as breakfast would be ready by now. "So, what will it be?"

**· · ·**

Breakfast was a dismal affair, with credible tension in the air. Tsu'tey and Bree spoke to one another, but completely avoided the topic of children – both of them kept their eyes away from expecting mothers in the clan, or any children with their parents, for fear of the topic being broached again. Jake sat next to a hyper Neytiri who was fussing over her hair, seeing as Tsyal was coming to see her after his hunt. Grace and Eytukan sat at the leader's area, but Ixchel was right next to Eytukan, and talking to him throughout the entire time. Grace had chosen to ignore the both of them, until her mate finally turned to acknowledge her presence. "_All ready for the meeting today?_" he asked her softly.

Grace waited three seconds before turning to him. She didn't know why, but some gut feeling within her was making her angry at Eytukan. It was working its way up and staying there, and she felt that drawing out some of her response time would prevent her from turning and snapping at him for no apparent reason. "_I suppose. Not much I can do to make myself more prepared_," she said, throwing in a smile for his benefit. He copied it, and then turned back to talking to Ixchel, making Grace dig her nails into her palm.

"More porridge?" Tsu'tey asked Bree softly. He looked over to her, noticing how she was anxiously biting her nails. He looked at her finger after she took it away from her mouth, seeing her cuticle hanging off, pink and stinging, undoubtedly. She seemed rather distant, and it took several moments for her to turn to him, smile, and shake her head. He slowly passed the bowl along to the next person, and kept quiet.

"But is it not exciting Jake?" Neytiri smiled. She looked as happy as a clam on steroids.

Jake kept a disinterested air around him, hoping that if she caught a whiff of it, maybe she would shut up. "Yeah, yeah… it's great," he lied. Neytiri, bless her, didn't really grasp the concept of sarcasm, and continued to prattle on about how her date with Tsyal was going to go. How she was going to do her hair, what she was going to say… Jake looked down at the knife he had been using to slice up some salad, and had the sudden feeling of plunging it into his chest. Maybe then the noise could be drowned out. He really didn't want to know about Neytiri's love life, unless it was with him. Why couldn't she just leave it alone?

**· · ·**

When was the last time Eytukan had paid attention to her? When was the last time he had said 'I love you', or called her by a pet name? All these little things were slowly starting to get to Grace. What was it? He liked the chase but once he had her, things settled into a slump? That explained his previous marriage all over. But surely – surely – this one wasn't headed down the same path, right?

She watched him as he spoke to the clan during the meeting, smiling as he told them all the good parts about it, and where there was needed areas of improvement. Eventually, it would come down to when Grace had to speak to the clan about the school and introduce the new teachers – her services of that were no longer required anymore, after all.

Her eyes darted around the crowd gathered, watching them as they watched their leader. As she did, she saw the admiration and trust in their eyes. Trust placed in her mate. The idea placed a sense of pride inside her, and she felt herself holding her head a little higher. She continued to look around, and she frowned as her topaz eyes fell across that Ixchel character. Her ears shot back as she spotted the way that one looked at Eytukan. It was more than admiration – it was _idolisation. _But it wasn't in a good way. Grace knew that look all too well. It was the look Jake gave to Neytiri, the way Bree watched Tsu'tey, and the way she looked at Eytukan. A smile flickered across Ixchel's face as Eytukan spoke, and then her tongue ran softly over her lips. A growl nearly burst out of Grace.

Adaman sat beside her, and watched her for a moment. He frowned as he looked at her hands, which were quivering anxiously, before they clenched into a fist so hard that her knuckles started to go white. "You all right?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Grace told him in return, but her voice was a little too strong for his liking.

She hadn't even been paying attention when Eytukan said, "_And now we will hear from our tsahík about the school, and then Adaman will talk about the new scouting plan._" Nothing happened. Eytukan slowly turned around to see Grace, and Adaman nudged her into action. Grace stood up slowly, coming over to her mate. Ixchel was still watching. Eytukan was about to take his seat when his mate's hand grabbed his, and he was pulled into her. The clan suddenly went quiet as they watched their leaders kiss. Why did they do that? Eytukan and Mo'at never kissed or anything in front of them. They all shifted uncomfortably.

Eytukan pulled away from Grace, a confused and slightly angered look on his face. Bree arched an eyebrow at her aunt and leaned over to her mate, asking, "What is she scouting for? His tonsils?"

**· · ·**

After the interesting meeting, Neytiri was seated on the log, waiting for Tsyal. She was a bundle of nerves, and she anxiously twiddled with her thumbs. He was so late. That couldn't be a good sign. Bree had tried to give her some tips before she went. "Now if you can't think of anything to talk about, don't mention your family. And remember to smile – no man wants to spend his night with a sour puss."

Her eyes had drifted to the edge of the forest when she felt a warm hand clasp onto the shoulder. She turned to smile at the handsome young man beside her. "_Sorry I'm late_, _little one,_" he said in a voice that sent hot shivers down her spine. His strong eyes looked into her own, his hair seemed to be moved by the ride he had just taken to get there.

Neytiri didn't wait for an explanation. She got up and gave him a hug, smiling brightly. "_Hello!_" she said exuberantly, running her hand through the side of her hair, something she hoped made her seem feminine. "_It's great you came. I know you've been busy._"

Tsyal gave her a dashing smile and held out his hand for her to take. "_Come on, my little bird. I want to take you somewhere._" She slipped her hand into his, feeling a warmth come to her as they held hands. She stood up from her seat and walked with him into the forest, the soft moss lighting up under their feet as they moved. As they got deeper and deeper into the forest, Neytiri's interest was getting piqued. Tsyal refused to answer any of her queries and just told her to trust him. Eventually, after walking for about fifteen minutes, they reached a little waterfall that tumbled over the rocks, cascading into a pool below. The area was privately surrounded by trees, making a little grotto. "_This place is amazing_," Neytiri breathed.

A rough chuckle came from Tsyal as he looked directly at her. "_Not as amazing as you._"

Neytiri felt her cheeks grow hot from that comment. "_You do flatter me, Tsyal._"

"_Well, you deserve it_," he murmured, coming in a little closer to her. Neytiri closed her eyelids as she felt him move to kiss her lips softly, before they started to move down to her neck. Her tail flicked and a small purr came from her throat at the sensation. His arms wrapped around her to pull her close to him, and she felt a strong sense of protection coming to her as he held her like that. His kisses on her neck grew stronger, and his hold became more powerful as his hand slowly snaked down her front, coming to trace her hipbone, before moving lower. Neytiri's eyes flashed open and she pulled away, or tried to. "_Tsyal…_" she whispered, making him stop his teasing. "_I… I'm not ready for that yet._"

Tsyal tilted his head to the side. "_Why not?_"

"_Because…_" The clan would have been absolutely appalled that Neytiri spent the night with someone other than a mate. And Tsyal and her had only been together as a potential couple for a month or so. "_I'm just not ready for that._"

His brow creased for a moment, and she did wonder if he was angry at her, but then he smiled. His hand came back up to brush her hair away from her face. "_Very well. If you're not ready, you're not ready._" He nuzzled her neck gently before moving to press a soft kiss to her forehead, and that was that.


	4. Who Can Say What's True?

**Author's note: I admit it – I wasn't going to finish this, but something happened in recent days and someone by the name of 'No Longer Writing' gave me incentive to again, so thank you so much to them. I hope I still have readers of this after so long…**

**Also, sorry for the sex scene. But, it is kind of necessary, as you will find out a little while later.**

**Chapter Four | Who Can Say What's True?**

As Neytiri and Tsyal's relationship started to escalate, another one was hitting the rocks. Eytukan's fury had reached the roof. He had had it with Grace and her attitude – what had gotten into the sensitive, easy-going woman he had married? Had she disappeared, just as Mo'at had?

"_What the hell were you thinking?_" he stormed as Grace and him entered their quarters. His eyes were on fire, and he stared directly at his mate, humiliated and angry.

Grace's ears were flat against her skull, but she kept her head up high. She would _not _bow down this time. "_I was thinking that our mateship was in trouble and I had to save it!_"

The words came like a whiplash to Eytukan. He eyed his 'tsahík'. "_Since when are we in trouble?_"

An infuriated snarl came from Grace as she moved her way to the hammock, sitting on the edge and facing him directly. "_You don't think I don't see it?_"

"_See what?_"

"_You. With her. Every day!_" Eytukan arched his eyeridge, completely baffled. "_You and Ixchel. Don't think I can't see it."_

"_Again – see what?!_"

"_Oh for Eywa's sakes Eytukan! Everyone can see it!_" Grace looked away from him, peeling the skin off her lip. She gave a frustrated snarl. "_Everyone can see it. She is completely in love with you, or lusting after you, whatever it is. And everyone knows that she's better than me._"

Eytukan's anger was only fueled. "_So she wants to sleep with me, is it? Just… are you actually fucking hearing yourself right now?_" Grace opened her mouth to retort in a snap, but Eytukan put his finger up to silence her. "_Ixchel is one of the biggest members of this clan. She was best friends with Mo'at – "_

"_Oh, that magically makes her better – _"

" – _and me! Nothing more._" Eytukan breathed hard, his chest moving quickly as he inhaled deeply, his brow creased in indignation. "_Do you honestly think I'd be unfaithful to you, Grace?_"

That did it. The words sprung to her lips before she could stop them, and the moment they were out, they would be out in the open. "_Well, you can understand how I'd think that, considering the way we started out…_"

Eytukan's head raised up, and his teeth snapped shut like an animal trap. The sound made Grace cringe. She had really done it now. "_Oh my Eywa_," Eytukan murmured, moving away from his mate and pacing up and down, not looking at her. "_Oh my Eywa, I cannot… I cannot believe you are actually throwing that in my face!_"

Grace shook visibly, and she stood up. "_I'm sleeping in the lounge._"

She walked towards the entrance of their quarters, trying to get past Eytukan. His sharp reflexes were much better than her own, and he whirled around, grabbing her wrist. A quick baring of her teeth and a tug would not make him let go of the vice-like grip he had on her. "_Eytukan! Stop it, you're hurting me…!_"

He didn't let her go, pulling her back to him. It was where she belonged, after all. "_I can do what I want! You're my mate; I do as I see fit."_

"_Well ditto here!"_ She tried to yank her wrist free. Her blood boiled under her skin. He wasn't going to control her! That was not how this marriage worked, ever. It had never worked that way before they had joined, and now that had changed? No. It hadn't changed. This wasn't how Na'vi worked – the male wasn't necessarily the top. What the hell had gotten into Eytukan?

What the hell had gotten into Grace? She had been acting like a nightmare for ages now. Eytukan was far stronger than her, as most males were to their female charges. Automatically, she struggled against him, but Eytukan only held her fast to his chest, securing her flailing limbs. She could feel the coiled tension in his body. "_Do. Not. Fight. Me._" Dominance and arousal radiated off of him as he dragged her and pushed her into the hammock.

Grace continued to struggle, and Eytukan grabbed her hair back, pushing his lips to hers. His teeth tore against them, and as he pulled away, her blood was painted on him. She looked up at him, his gaze intensely on her own. She pressed up to him, kissing him deeply in return. There was no usual warmth in his replying kiss, and he tore her clothes off in quick succession, leaving her exposed underneath him.

Her nails ran along his cyan skin, digging into spots, making him growl. His hand dipped down to rub her in her special spot, making her cry and squirm underneath him. His lips met hers again, slightly softer this time, but still with a lot of the same energy. They looked at one another, and Grace's hands slipped down to strip off his loin cloth, feeling how ready he was for her.

More ready than she was. She cried out as he suddenly pushed into her, feeling him almost tear her again. She tried to kick him off again, but she wanted this. What the hell, though? She was mad at him, wasn't she? Age-old instincts were surfacing and logic was slipping away. Desire consumed her and in the end, she relaxed and let him press against her intimately. "_I am your mate, Grace. And you are mine. No one else can touch me and make me feel as good as you. And same for you. Got it?_" She meekly murmured her response. "_Good._"

Their earlier anger was basically gone. Both of them just wanted to be together. Sex was something that could fix a lot of things. Eytukan's tail sought out his mate's, and he moved in and out of her, a little more gently, but still quite hard. It felt like he was going for eternity. She yelped a little, and his firm hand clasped over her mouth to quiet her. Almost there… _So close_… _Soon…_ Can't stand it anymore…

Her whole body jerked as her orgasm hit her, muscles clenching and then convulsing in release. She could feel Eytukan's release a little while after her; she knew the ecstasy shooting down his legs and up his spine. It became so hard to breathe, to think… It was just too much. She released her grip on her mate, and he rested his head between her breasts, breathing hard. Then everything went black.

**· · ·**

How could Bree not want a baby? Wasn't that what all women wanted? Marriage and children? It made sense. That was usually how they were thinking. Neytiri was desperate to have a mate and children, Tsu'tey could see it – why else would she hang out with that scoundrel of a male? Desperation.

And that was what Tsu'tey was eventually resorting to. Males had that dream too, of having a prodigy. He just wanted to know that a little someone was there to carry on their name, someone that he could teach and love. It was just something he _had _to do.

He headed towards the royal lounge, finding his beautiful mate dozing quietly on one of the cushions. He tip-toed in quietly to kiss her temple, brushing her hair back gently. "I have to do something," he told her softly. "And I know you will come to see the light of it very soon. All right, Bree?" Her response was her nose twitching.

He stood up and walked out of the area, heading down the spiral staircase of the tree. He walked towards a small area off the tree, and went inside. "Adaman."

Adaman had been quietly enjoying the day off. No lacerations, no broken bones… _Oh crap._ "Tsu'tey." His voice was monotone. "What is it? You knocked your shoulder out again?"

"I am not that weak, Adaman," he told the elder. "No, I came to talk about Bree's birth control."

Adaman went rigid. His mouth went a little dry. His topaz eyes shot to the second-in-command, and then down at his table. He gave a small laugh. "There's no such thing."

"I may not have become a healer like you wanted me to, but I am no idiot. I know there is such thing. And I know you know something about it."

But he wasn't supposed to – only female healers were meant to – it was a trusted secret – but seeing as he was trusted, Adaman knew such a plant existed, and he also knew he had prescribed it to Bree. Tsu'tey kept his gaze right on the healer; he relented. "What do you want to know?" he asked, leaning back against the wall.

He shook his head. "Nothing. I want Bree's supply for the next five months."

Adaman arched an eyeridge. "Why?"

"She… asked me to pick it up," he lied.

He wasn't too sure about that, but Tsu'tey was trustworthy. He stood up, stretched, and went over to his cabinet. "Eywa. I should never have prescribed this to Bree," he muttered under his breath. "_Dreamwalker…_ I should have known she would reveal its existence to you."

Tsu'tey watched the healer as he returned with five small pouches of liquid. He passed them to him. He smiled pleasantly. "Thank you, Adaman," he said. "I'll talk to you later." Adaman waved him off and turned away, which Tsu'tey was glad he did, so he didn't notice the eager glint in his eye.


	5. Goodbye My Love

**Chapter Five | Goodbye My Love**

' **Eytukan wiped his face with his hands, and then looked at her before sighing heavily. "**_**Grace, I am so sorry… This – **_**" He dipped his head down. "**_**It was a mistake. This is a mistake, I am so sorry.**_**" '**

Oh, her head hurt… Not to mention so many other places. A cacophony of thoughts swam around and around in her brain. Ideas and feelings flit by so fast that she couldn't focus or make sense of them before they suddenly went away.

"Ah!" A soft gasp of pain came from Grace's lips. Between her legs hurt like never before. She was filled with regret, sadness, worry… Why was she feeling this way? What had happened last night? She felt confused and afraid. She darted her eyes about the quarters for an explanation.

She frowned as she noticed the clothes on the floor. Why would there be clothes on the floor? They had had some argument… _Oh. My. Eywa._

Everything hit her like a bullet train. She'd finally confronted Eytukan about Ixchel – that bitch – and he had… he had…

There was movement beside her, and it was Eytukan. She looked over at him. He was sitting on the edge of the hammock, looking away from her. She slowly rose up from her position, and looked at him. "Eytukan?" she asked softly, trying to touch his shoulder.

He flinched away from her. He seemed to hesitate before turning to look at her. His face was impassive as stone, but his eyes gave away all the emotions. His eyes… They were bleak pools of despair, worry and regret.

Grace's heart lurched as she saw him in pain, and with how she was feeling now. What had they _done_? Eytukan looked as if he were disgusted by her. Another wave of worry and hurt went over her. Their relationship seemed to be hanging by a thread. It was the first time they'd had sex in months but that was closer to rape than anything else.

Eytukan wiped his face with his hands, and then looked at her before sighing heavily. "_Grace, I am so sorry… This – _" He dipped his head down. "_It was a mistake. This is a mistake, I am so sorry._"

Her ears shot back. What was he saying? That they were a mistake? That everything between them had been? She felt tears prickle behind her eyes, but she wouldn't cry. Not in front of him. How could they be a mistake, though? They were Grace and Eytukan… everything would work out, right? "_Eytukan… no. This isn't a mistake_," she desperately pleaded. "_I love you._"

His eyes didn't change. He reached over and squeezed her hand. "_I know you do._" He slowly stood up, going to dress and get his bow. "_I have to go… Ixchel will be waiting to go to the leaders meeting._" He let the words linger and grow stagnant in the air, before adding, "_I will see you in a month._"

He couldn't possibly leave now! No… She needed him here, they needed to sort this out. As a mated couple. That's what they were. They were soulmates; they'd figure this out. They loved each other more than anything, didn't they?

But if that were the case, why had this marriage so far been nothing but trouble?

Eytukan looked over at Grace, and then nodded. "_Goodbye._"

She bit her lip, cuddling her knees to her chest. "_Goodbye._" He turned and left, and she broke into frenzied sobs.

**· · ·**

Bree woke up the next morning beside Tsu'tey, stretching a little. Today her mother-in-law was leaving for a month. Maybe now was the time for a last ditch effort to get her to like her. She rose from the hammock and went downstairs. A human tradition used to be to give some flowers. Maybe that'd be nice for Ixchel. She went to the field where the pa'li grazed, where some wildflowers that smelled of honey grew. She bent down and pick a few stems, and gathered a couple pieces of leaves, before tying the small bouquet by a piece of grass. Perfect.

She walked back over to where Ixchel and Eytukan were getting their pa'li. Adaman was with them, helping to put some of the travelling gear onto an extra horse. Bree went over to Ixchel as she checked the pa'li's hoof, flicking her raven hair behind her. "Hello… mother," Bree smiled at her.

The Na'vi female turned around, and her eyes narrowed. Tsu'tey's mate wasn't the most favourite person in the world to Ixchel. Why did he have to marry the Avatar? Her tainted blood was now going to mix into the family lineage – horror of horrors! At least she didn't want children. Ixchel didn't want grandchildren from her. "Bree," she replied curtly. "What is it?"

"Oh, I just wanted to wish you and Uncle Eytukan luck for the trip. And give you these." She put the pile of flowers into Ixchel's hand. "Thought you might like them before you left."

A small smile broke over her face as she weighed the plants in her hand. "How thoughtful," she said as Bree swelled with pride, before adding, "That you would pull up the roots of our Mother and think I would enjoy it as a gift."

The flowers were left at Bree's feet, and Ixchel tilted her head towards the forest, signaling for Bree to follow, which she obediently did. "When I was your age, I was a fool. Nothing but a fool. I had been mated to a male, and he was not the nicest Na'vi around.

"He would beat me, often. It got so bad, I started praying to Eywa to let me die."

Bree's ears went back. She felt so terrible for her mother-in-law. "I had no idea, Ixchel."

The female simply nodded, walking over to sit on a log. She took a small knife out of her bag of arrows, and took a piece of dead wood, starting to run the blade along it and carve. "No one did. But, Eywa, in all Her wisdom, was listening. She gave me a reason to live."

Bree continued to stand, watching Ixchel carve the wood, and she gave a small smile. "You mean Tsu'tey."

Ixchel looked at her, and blinked in confirmation. "He was a beautiful baby. He gave me purpose. All children do. But then one night, my mate beat my Tsu'tey. He was crying and sobbing, and something inside me snapped." Bree's ears went down, thinking of her love being beaten by the man who created him. It was a horrible thought. Ixchel didn't notice her distraction. "… So I dealt with him."

She had her attention back. Dealt with him? How? "What do you mean?" Ixchel's dangerous eyes flicked over to Bree; a coldness ran down her spine. The knife rang clear in her ears as it rubbed over the wood. "Tsu… Tsu'tey told me his father left to go with a female in another clan."

"Ah, that was what he was told." Bree's eyes went down to the knife, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. The knife kept dragging against the wood, back and forth, back and forth… She nearly tripped as she stood back.

Ixchel watched her calmly, as if she were a thanator stalking her prey. "A mother does anything to protect her children, now, Bree."

Bree swallowed, and nodded. "H-have a good trip," was all she managed to utter as she dashed away, too shaken to do anything else. She rushed past Eytukan and Adaman, clipping the latter on the shoulder by accident as she did. He gave a snarl of pain.

"Watch it, Ranec!" he called out after her, twisting his shoulder around and around to ward off the pain. What had gotten into her? Adaman shook his head and looked at Eytukan. "_Be safe, my brother._"

Eytukan made no verbal response except a murmur, focusing on the pa'li.

"_What's the matter?_"

He sighed, resting his head against the horse's neck for a moment, before turning to his best friend. "_Nothing. Keep an eye on the clan for me, Adaman._"

He arched an eyebrow. "_Of course, but – Grace?_"

"_We both know perfectly well she can't do it._" He gripped onto the pa'li's wither and swinging himself on. He bonded gently with the creature and told it to turn. "_I'll see you soon._"

"_Whoa, wait!_" Adaman quickly dashed in front of the creature, making it start slightly. "_Are you okay? You don't sound okay._"

Eytukan shook his head. "_I'm fine._"

"_No, you're not._ _I've known you practically all our lives – I know when something is troubling you._"

A frown creased the leader's features. "_Stand aside._" Adaman's ears went back, and he slowly moved away, letting Eytukan move out from the clan. He breathed out slowly, biting the corner of his mouth.

From above the clan, a pair of topaz eyes watched as Ixchel mounted her pa'li in turn and caught up after Eytukan, who had already disappeared into the trees. Grace swallowed the saliva in her mouth. "Goodbye, my love," she whispered to no one who could hear her.


	6. Don't You Forget About Me

**Chapter Six | Don't You Forget About Me**

"_**Grace, I know that the word menopause causes a lot of discomfort for women. It has negative connotations of aggravation, aging, mood swings, loss of sexual desire – **_**"**

"_**Who trained you, again?**_**" Grace interrupted, her brow creasing. "**_**Because I just want to make sure that he himself wasn't trained by an ikran!**_**"**

**Three Weeks Later**

It had been weeks. Eytukan hadn't come back from his excursion yet, but the clan continued to function without him under Adaman's careful instruction – no one worried that Grace wasn't looking after them. It had been weeks since Grace had seen her mate, and when she had casually confided to Adaman whether he was intentionally keeping himself away, Adaman shook his head. "Sweetheart," he tried to appeal to her human side, "He loves you. He's probably still busy." But he himself was growing a little concerned; surely Ixchel and Eytukan would be back by now?

Once Grace was downstairs in the morning, amid all the noise and all the Na'vi hurrying toward obligations that didn't really matter, she often found herself wondering if she would have been better staying in bed, but when she was in their room, she found herself turning onto Eytukan's side of the hammock, or worrying about when he would finally return. It was better, she supposed, to keep busy and keep it out of her mind. She tried to help clan members around, but something had shifted; they didn't want her around. Grace wondered often as well if she should just leave. Perhaps it would be better for everyone. It wasn't self-pity; it was reality. No one had wanted her there, and without Eytukan as her defender, no one gave a damn. Adaman tried to cheer her up, cracking jokes and playing games. Grace went along with it, but only so he wouldn't think she was becoming self-destructive. She wasn't; she didn't have the energy.

"People," Adaman said when he was in the lounge with Neytiri, the Ranecs, and Jake. "We need to talk about Grace."

"Sounds like a movie title," Jake murmured out of the blue.

Neytiri, Tsu'tey and Adaman looked at him with curiosity due to a word that wasn't in their vocabulary. He waved them off.

Adaman cleared his throat, sitting down on one of the cushions on the floor. "Aren't you all concerned? Or is it just me?"

Bree put her hands up. "What do you want us to do? Eytukan is out of the country with that idiot, Ixchel – sorry – " she added, seeing Tsu'tey's spastic blink – " – but our hands are tied until he gets back."

Tsu'tey looked curiously at his mate. "What did my mother even say to you before you left?" Bree shook her head vehemently.

Neytiri had been looking out the window. Adaman cleared his throat, and she looked back. "Oh I'm sorry," she muttered, "Why should I care what's wrong with her?"

"Neytiri!" Adaman scolded.

"No! I'm sorry, I have had enough of this, 'Oh, woe is me' act with her! Enough!" she snarled, getting to her feet. "She should just get over it."

"Neytiri, calm down – "

Adaman's words were useless – Neytiri had stormed out of the lounge before he could finish his sentence.

Jake cast an apologetic look to everyone. "Sorry. She's still not quite… okay with the whole situation."

"Jake, you better not be apologising for me!" Neytiri called from where she had walked off to. Jake grimaced, and looked despairingly at Adaman, who let him go.

Bree looked between her mate and the healer, before standing up. "Well then, I don't see much point in this."

Adaman placed his head in his hands, shaking it. "She's your aunt, Bree – aren't you slightly concerned?"

"Of course I am! But she needs to talk to someone or see a doctor or something. Eytukan would be our best bet but that's out of the question." Bree beckoned Tsu'tey to stand up and get beside her, which he did. Adaman couldn't believe this; were they all giving up on her? Bree came down and placed her hands on his shoulders, looking him directly in the eye. "I know you're concerned. I am too. But trust me when I say there isn't anything we can do. She just needs time."

Adaman frowned at Bree and Tsu'tey as they left. _Well, fine_, he thought. _I'll just deal with it myself._

**· · ·**

Grace didn't understand why she was here. Maybe she was a little upset, sure, but she was, overall, fine. She didn't get why Adaman had taken her to his office, made her sit on the medical bench and asked her really dense questions – "How are you feeling today?" "How many hours of sleep have you had?" "Are your periods regular?"

"Eywa, Adaman, get out," Grace had snapped at him at the last question, and Adaman chalked it up to her being uncomfortable with him asking the questions. Grace was drumming her fingers on the examination table, feeling very impatient. She was rather snappy these days when she wasn't quiet, and Adaman was pushing all the wrong buttons.

"Grace?" She looked up to see Adaman at the entrance, and beside him, a young, attractive Na'vi male. He looked like he was only 20 years old. "Grace, I'm sure you remember Hari."

Her frustration ebbed away as she looked at the young male, and she smiled. "Yes, Hari! I taught you."

Hari beamed at her, and blinked to confirm what she said. "Yes! You did, Miss Grace."

Grace hopped off the medical bench, and the two of them did the usual greeting; 'I see you'. Hari's was more exaggerated, as Grace noticed; he obviously knew of her new position, and then she remembered, of course, that she was wearing the tsahík's robes. Hari smiled enthusiastically. "Long time, no?"

"Yes, it has! You've grown so much," Grace smiled. Adaman smiled as well; he figured Hari would help.

"You mated Eytukan." It was a statement, not a question, and Grace stiffened as she heard her mate's name. She also wondered if Hari was about to abuse her. But he did quite the opposite. "Wonderful! You happy, being leader?"

She smiled. "It's the best," she lied.

"Great!"

"Where have you been?" Grace asked, wanting to move the conversation along.

"New clan," Hari explained, before pausing for a moment, as if he were searching for the right word. "I… train. Yes, train!"

Adaman chuckled a little. "I sent him over to my friend over east. And now he's a qualified healer." He put his palms up. "As qualified as Na'vi's can get, you understand."

Grace looked back to her old student. She could remember teaching Hari when he was only 12. "Your English is still very good."

"No, no," Hari said, his ears going down a bit. "I forget many things. You teach again?"

Grace laughed and shrugged. "I'm sure I could offer some to members if they want it."

Adaman looked between the two of them. "Well, I'll leave you two," he said, and Grace looked at him worriedly. "Bye bye!" Before Grace could call him back, he disappeared.

Hari motioned for her to sit back on the bench, which she did begrudgingly. "We… switch?" he asked her, moving his hands over one another to show an overlap. When she looked confused, he added, "To Na'vi?"

"Oh!" Grace cleared her throat. "_Yes, of course._"

Hari went to clean his hands in the water bowl nearby, before coming back to Grace. "_All right, feet up._"

Grace frowned a little. "_For what?_" She asked; Hari watched her, waiting for the leaf to drop. "_Oh! Um… I didn't realise you were… that kind of healer_."

"_What do you mean? Every healer is that kind of healer._ _Just lie back and let your mind go blank._"

Grace flushed, her blue skin growing darker. "_You know, I think I'd actually prefer Adaman for this…_" She would prefer _no one _for this. She was going to kill Adaman after. What the hell was he thinking?

"_Lie back_," Hari said, pushing her gently on the shoulder until she complied. "_It's standard procedure. Adaman asked me to check everything._"

"_So why don't you start on my eyes? My eyes need some checking – you know, they have been pretty dry._"

She could hear Hari laughing as he moved her properly into position. "_You'll be fine, I promise._"

Grace grimaced. "_You know, really, I don't think I have any problems there – hey, where did you go?_" she asked as she sat up. Her eyes widened then as she felt a cool sensation under her thigh, and she lay back, stiff as a board. She felt violated. She didn't want her ex-student doing this… _Adaman, I'm going to fucking kill you_, she thought.

"_All right, and relax,_" Hari told her. Grace bit her lip. "_And relax._" Her fingers twisted. "_Um… And relax?_"

She breathed out, sitting up a little from her spreadeagled position. "_Hari, no offence, but um… really, when is Adaman coming back?_"

Hari came back up, and smiled. "_Almost done!_"

'Almost done' was not done fast enough. Grace quickly crossed her legs the moment Hari stepped away to wash his hands again. "_Wasn't so bad, was it?_" he asked her with a jubilant smile; she forced one back. "_Anyway, now I need to ask some questions._"

"_Of course_…" He had seen everything. What did she have to lose now?

"_How are your periods?"_

Grace shrugged, and then added, knowing Hari probably wouldn't understand that gesture and needed more information, "_They're okay. One month on, one month off._ _That's okay, right?_"

"_And this month?_" Hari probed, not acknowledging her question.

"_Off._"

"_Are they painful?_"

Grace sighed. "_Hari, really, I don't want to talk about this. They're fine._"

Hari blinked once to nod. "_You ever experience night sweats?_"

"_Sometimes_," Grace confirmed. She gave a small laugh, before her smile faded as she knew what she was about to say next. "_Eytukan said – says, that I'm like his little fire. I'm always so warm."_

Hari laughed, before asking, "_What about hot flashes?_"

Grace's sad thoughts of her mate were wiped away. Her jaw clenched, and she pulled herself off the medical bench. "_Okay, whoa. I'm going to stop you right there._" Hari looked at her in surprise at her harsh tone. "_I am way too young for that._"

Hari's expression smoothed back to his smile. "_Grace, I know that the word menopause causes a lot of discomfort for women. It has negative connotations of aggravation, aging, mood swings, loss of sexual desire – _"

"_Who trained you, again?_" Grace interrupted, her brow creasing. "_Because I just want to make sure that he himself wasn't trained by an ikran!_"

"_Look, there's a simple test I can do to find out. We just take a bit of blood, mix it with some dye and if it's black, then – "_

"_I don't need no stupid test! I am not old enough for menopause!_" Grace snapped.

Hari seemed to hesitate, before saying, "_Grace, you are at that age – "_

"_Human wise! I'm younger than I was in my human body and I wasn't even close to – _"

"_Grace, please?_" She kept quiet, and he continued. "_A test will confirm this. It'll take a very short amount of time._"

She shook her head. Grace couldn't believe what she was hearing. "_I am not old enough and that's final!_"

"_A test will help._" Hari smiled sweetly. "_Or I can talk more about your period._"

"_Give me the damn test._"

**· · ·**

"_Grace, I am so sorry… This – it was a mistake. This is a mistake, I am so sorry."_

_"Eytukan… no. This isn't a mistake! I love you."_

_"I have to go… Ixchel will be waiting to go to the leaders meeting." _

He couldn't help playing the conversation over and over in his mind. For three weeks, Eytukan had let that silent torture go through him. What had he been thinking? It was true that Grace and him had vast differences, but that had never stopped him before. It was almost as if, from the moment they had mated, something had shifted, and not for the better. He was still mad at her, but most of that feeling had ebbed away, and now he was left with the mess that had been made. It was waiting for him when he would come back in a few days. But would it? Would Grace actually still be there? A lot of him told him, no, she wouldn't.

"_Why so serious?_"

Eytukan looked up from the bedding he had been lying on, to look at Ixchel, her head just touching the ceiling of the tepee they were in. The clan they were visiting operated on the ground, their Hometree being rather small compared to the Omaticaya, not to mention they used pa'li more than ikran – there wasn't much point in it. Due to it, everyone lived in little tents in the grass plains.

Ixchel came over to sit beside her leader, nudging him. "_Cheer up. What's the matter, are you going to tell me now?_"

Eytukan looked at her for a moment, and then shook his head. "_No. I'm fine._"

"_We're not humans – we're not liars._"

Eytukan frowned thoughtfully at that. Humans. Liars. Grace wasn't one. She was good. What had he done to her? "_I'm just missing Grace, I suppose._"

"_Is that all?_"

Ixchel looked imploringly at her leader, and Eytukan sighed softly. "_We… we had a bit of a disagreement of sorts, before you and I departed._"

"_What about?_"

Eytukan's nostrils flared, and he frowned at her slightly. "_That's not your place._"

"_I didn't mean it like that._ _But Adaman's not here; who else are you going to talk to?_"

Eytukan's ears went down, and he shook his head. He heard Ixchel sigh, before he felt something heavy in his hands. He looked down to see a bowl of drink. "_Is this meant to help?" _he asked. Ixchel smiled at him. Just to please her, he took a sip of the liquid; it seared his throat. "_Thanks. I think._"

"_Come on… what happened? I'm sure it's not as bad as you think._"

Eytukan looked over to Ixchel. She had been a big help the past three weeks, he had to admit. He didn't see what Grace held against her – she was helpful, and nice. She knew when to speak, and how to convince the other clan that everything was just fine. She had a voice of strength and reason. Maybe she could help. "_Well,_" he began, "_Grace is unhappy. About you._"

There was a long pause, before she said, "_Really?"_  
>"<em>She thinks this insane idea that you're trying to get to me and get to the clan.<em>" Eytukan mentally kicked himself for saying that. Why had he told Ixchel? That was really stupid. He passed her the alcohol. "_I said too much. Keep that away from me._"

"_No, you said the right amount_." Eytukan felt her come closer; he looked over to her. "_But, would something happening really be so terrible?_"

Eytukan blinked spastically, and then he scowled at Ixchel. "_Excuse me?_"

"_It's only in the best interests of the clan. The olo'eyktan needs a strong tsahík. And let's be honest," _Ixchel laughed, "_Grace isn't at all._"

Eytukan's ears flattened against his skull. "_She's fine_," he said defensively.

"_Really?_" Ixchel rolled her eyes at him. "_After she embarrassed you in front of the whole clan. Amazing that she's 'fine'_."

"_She is!_" Eytukan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ixchel, of all people? Really? He knew she didn't entirely approve of Grace, but she had been handling it well. But what he really couldn't believe was that Grace had been right all along.

He jumped to his feet, chest heaving with angered breaths. "_Get out._"

Ixchel leant back on her palms. "_You can't be serious_," she smiled at Eytukan, as if testing how serious he was.

"_Out!_" Eytukan snarled. "_Get out! Now!_"

Her smile was wiped off. Ixchel slowly stood up, starting to move towards the door. Her teeth ground together as she looked at her leader. "_You aren't doing anyone any favours, keeping her around_. _You'll regret this, one day._"

"_Thank you. I'll take my chances._"

Ixchel pushed her way out of the tent. Eytukan slowly sat back down, biting his lip. Was no one on their side? Would it be forever like this? Was it perhaps better to have kept it quiet until they died? The answer came to him – no, it wasn't. And he knew right now that Grace needed him, more than this clan. Ixchel could deal with them.

He walked out of the tent, looking around the plains. Most of the little fires that individual families used were put out – almost everyone had gone to sleep. He clicked his fingers a few times, and there came a pounding in the distance. The figure of a pa'li galloped towards him, slowing to a trot and then halting right beside him. Eytukan stroked the creature's nose. "_Let's go._" he said; the horse whickered. He mounted and joined up, before thinking to the pa'li, "_Home._"


	7. What A Happy Surprise

**It's been years. I didn't think I'd finish this story, but I've been getting some PM's asking if I would. I watched Avatar two nights ago with my boyfriend, so I finally – properly – got back in the mood. So now I can go through all the plots I had planned two years ago!**

**A lot has happened in two years, and having suddenly lost my own mother to a brain haemorrhage, I am feeling author's guilt for killing off Mo'at in such a manner and not doing the original plot of just a divorce between her and Eytukan. As such, I will be focusing on Neytiri's development as she goes through her mother's death and Grace becoming her step-mother, as I am going through the exact same thing. On the positive side, I now live with my boyfriend and am close to being married, so I understand more of how these kinds of adult relationships work, particularly with Grace and Eytukan, and Bree and Tsu'tey. So I think this story will become better written as we get closer to the end – a bit of a challenge for myself to really delve into a character's psyche.**

**Anyway, without further ado, let's get back into this and let's hope some people are still reading. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Seven | What A Happy Surprise**

' **Eytukan stopped dead in his tracks. Grace's smile got plastered to her face. She was frozen in time. No, she must have heard that wrong. '**

Bree had stayed up pretty late that night. Ever since that damn Ixchel had decided to traumatise her with thoughts of her being stabbed, she kind of slept with one eye open, despite the fact she had the best warrior beside her. Due to her trouble sleeping in the dark, which Tsu'tey had no idea what was the cause of (he reckoned that she had no need to be _afraid _of the dark, if that was her issue – the bioluminescent plants should do the trick), he took the chance to engage in shady activities.

While Bree dozed, he carefully snuck out of the area which they occupied, and dashed down the stairs towards the lake. He had in front of him the five pouches of liquid given to him by Adaman, and also five other pouches of just coloured water. There were already a few members of the clan trying to fish, and Tsu'tey had a feeling he looked incredibly conspicuous by turning his back to them and making strange hurried movements. Thankfully, they were wise enough not to question him, so he continued with his work.

He scraped a hole in the damp earth near the lake, and then inspected the pouches Adaman had given him. They were tied with a string, and Tsu'tey looked at it – it was a type of grass rope, but it was very thin. Carefully, he tried to snake his fingers around the rope's end and pull it open, but it snapped in his fingers. He grimaced. _Shit_. He looked at the frayed piece of rope. That was okay, he was sure; he'd just try to tie it again better. He tried another method wherein he held the top of the pouch closed and gently pushed the rope off, and breathed in relief when it worked. He opened each of the pouches containing the black medicine, and poured them into the hole he had dug. At least this way the medicine would not contaminate the water. Then, he carefully poured the coloured water into the pouches. Now the tricky part was to be able to close them up again, so as to hide all evidence of tampering. He had broken every grass tie, so he stuck his tongue between his teeth as he tried to tie tiny knots in every tie. He managed to pull it so it wasn't even obvious. There! He had to beam at his pure genius.

He carefully scooped up the pouches, and walked back upstairs, a bit of a spring in his step. He was going to be a father and that was the last bit to it.

He stopped just before he turned the corner to where Bree would be; what if she had awoken? What then? He bit his lip, and slowly came towards the corner where he could peer around to check; she was lying in the hammock, her chest rising steadily with breath. He was safe. The good thing about being a warrior was he was incredibly lithe on his feet, so he had no reason to fear waking her up. He placed the pouches under their bed, and lay back beside her. He touched the top of the hammock so it wrapped around them, and kissed her forehead. She didn't stir. He brushed her cheek. "_I love you very much," _he told her quietly, before closing his eyes again to sleep until an appropriate time to wake came around.

**· · ·**

She wasn't aware of where she was. She didn't know this part of the forest. Grace slowly walked around the ferns and underbrush, feeling dew rubbing off onto her bare legs. It was obviously the early morning. But she hadn't awoken this early. She couldn't remember even getting up, and walking out of Hometree. She rarely went to the forest on her own these days, always with someone – the clan may not approve of her leadership, but it was something that would be on their hands if their tsahík turned up dead.

But no one was with her at all. Grace walked forward, going through the trees. She knew this part of the forest – it was near her old school. In fact, she spotted a large leaf that, if one pushed it aside, they would find the building, rebuilt from materials found at the RDA site. There were still humans there, but since Miles' death and the threat of the Na'vi being too great, contact was minimal to the point of non-existence. Grace pushed the fern aside, but did a double take when she wasn't at the school. She was in a room she hadn't been in years.

It was her apartment, back on Earth. It was the apartment she had moved into once Miles and her had broken up, before they shipped out. There was the grey walls, the small single bed she had. There was the flat screen television, the bathroom, the kitchen, all compacted into studio apartment that was half the size of Eytukan and her quarters alone. She gave a small laugh. "What on earth…" she muttered. She wasn't on Earth, she was somewhere better. So why was she looking here?

She brought her hands up to her face, and gave a yell. Her skin… it wasn't blue. She whirled around. No tail. No queue. She touched and pulled her hair – it was red. "No… No no!" she hyperventilated, rushing to the bathroom in the corner and looking at the cracked mirror. No doubt about it, she was… human. But that was physically impossible. She touched her sagging skin which her Avatar – Na'vi – didn't have. She was back to being in her fifties instead of her forties. She looked into her hazel eyes, and not her topaz ones. She swallowed, biting her lip so hard that a bit of skin came off, and when she pulled, she tasted blood. This couldn't be happening.

There was a knock at the door. She turned around to face the front entrance, with its peeping hole and lock that recognised her fingerprint. She tapped it to open it, and was taken aback again. There, in front of her, was a small Na'vi child. He was young enough to only come to her breast, so she placed him at about five or six. But what was this? She was human, clearly on Earth, and a Na'vi child was staring at her knees. His blue contrasted starkly to the grey concrete environment around him. He was as out of place as a black sheep in a white flock.

She looked down at him. "_May I help you?"_

The young boy looked up, and smiled at her. That smile looked so familiar. Grace breathed out, her heart beating fast. "Eytukan?" she questioned. That was impossible, but not. How could he be a child?

The boy gave a human motion of a shrug. So that wasn't Eytukan then. He held out his fist, obviously trying to give her something, and Grace opened her hand. The child in turn opened his. He had five fingers. Definitely not her mate. As it was, this Na'vi was over half a century younger than her mate. How was she even contemplating this was Eytukan? Impossible.

The child dropped something into her hand. She looked as a soft, ethereal creature floated in her hand. An _atokirina. _She'd never held one before… Never had one come to her. She could have chalked it up to her being an Avatar originally, but Jake had experienced it. But right now she was human. So what was this?

She frowned quizzically at the little boy. "_Who are you?_" she asked quietly.

The boy flicked up his topaz eyes to her. It sent a shock down her spine. She knew those eyes. "You'll know me," he told her in perfect English, before turning around and walking away.

"Wait!" Grace called after him, rushing out into the small corridor, but he was gone. She stared at the _atokirina_, which seemed to be humming. She blinked slowly, trying to listen. It was a beautiful musical sound, similar to Na'vi singing at ceremonies. She carefully touched it with her index finger, and it started to trace circles around her palm. "What does this mean…?"

The seed began to brighten before her eyes, and Grace closed them as the white light got unbearable. When she opened them, she found herself looking at a striped brown ceiling. There were drawings all over it. She sat up quickly, so fast her head spun, and the bed shook under her. It wasn't a bed – it was a hammock. She raised her hands – back to cyan. She touched her head and felt her queue, the beads of the few braids she had. She gave a nervous laugh and lay back down. A dream. Just a dream.

She frowned then. She hadn't thought of her home back on Earth in… years. And there was no such thing as a Na'vi child with _five _fingers, unless it was some deformity. But the hand had been perfect. The child's eyes, they were imprints of her mate. Perhaps it was –

"Grace?" came a voice. Grace sat up again and turned around, finding Hari at the door. "_Oh good, you're awake!_"

Grace slowly nodded, licking her front teeth which felt fuzzy as she hadn't rinsed yet. "_I am_," she confirmed, wiping the sleep out of her eyes.

Hari continued to stand at the door. Grace realised, belatedly, he wanted to talk to her. She stood up and walked towards him, beckoning him outside. He was actually out of line coming up here, but she didn't want to say so, and she figured he had something important to say if he had purposely sought her out like this. "_Let's go to the lounge," _she suggested, not smiling. Hari must have realised that something was the matter for he kept his head down as they walked, not close enough to her to ask what the problem was. He could ask, truthfully, but the fact was it might not get an answer. Grace led him into the wide space and turned back to him. "_What's on your mind?_"

Hari cleared his throat. "_I got your test results back._" Grace felt her heart-rate speed up. Hari gave a wide smile. "_It was completely my error. You're not having menopause. You're not even close to it. The test came back negative._"

Grace felt herself calm down. It wasn't true! She wasn't aging rapidly! She smiled back at Hari. "_Thank you for telling me!_" She breathed out, feeling that wonderful feeling of sudden relief when the thing you had been stressing over is suddenly, blissfully, alleviated.

"_But, there is more_."

He sounded like someone on those Earth infomercials – spastically happy as they said, 'But wait, there is more!' Grace took his happiness as a good omen. It wasn't bad news. "_Oh?_" she asked, suddenly getting distracted as she heard footsteps. She looked over Hari's shoulder to see the tall form of Eytukan coming in, and her heart sped up. She began to smile but then remembered. What had three weeks apart done for them? Was he coming back to ask they end their mateship? But upon seeing her, his weathered face broke into a wide smile, his eyes as bright as the forest at night. It caused her to smile as well. All was well. Eytukan ignored Hari as he began to step into the lounge to come and hug his mate, but Hari made his presence known.

"_You're pregnant_."

Eytukan stopped dead in his tracks. Grace's smile got plastered to her face. She was frozen in time. No, she must have heard that wrong. But Eytukan was just as shocked as her so both of them couldn't have made a mistake. Hari was smiling so much as he looked between them, waiting for one of them to react. Both were shell-shocked.

"_What… What did you say?_" Eytukan slowly asked the healer, looking at him. He was young. He must have made a mistake. But then Grace said, "_My dream…_"

"_You had the vision?_" Hari exclaimed.

Eytukan looked at his mate in surprise. Grace slowly nodded. "_Yes… I had one, last night. It must have been… Eywa's vision._"

Eytukan's heart was beating so fast, that he worried at his age he was having a heart attack. He licked his lips, a slow smile creeping onto his face. "_Grace…_"

Grace felt like she had just been delivered the news of her life. It _was _the news of her life, and it was taking a second to process. But when it clicked, a wide smile came upon her face. "_We're going to have a son._"

"_What?_" Eytukan breathed out. _A son? _She knew that? He came over to her, taking her hands in his. "_Really…?_"

"_In the dream, I was back on Earth. And there was a young Na'vi boy, who looked so much like you, I thought it was you at first._" Eytukan's eyes lit up. "_And he said I'd know him. So, that must have been, well, our child._"

Eytukan glanced at her stomach, which was still flat as anything. She looked up at him, and smiled. She took one of her hands out of his to touch his face. His eyes were soft, and Eytukan – her mate, the strongest male she had ever known – looked like he had tears in his eyes. He pulled her in for a tight hug, forgetting the fact that a member of the clan was there. It didn't matter. This was _their _moment.

Grace snuggled in, before something hit her. "_But… how? We're, I mean, well…"_

Hari laughed softly, knowing what she was getting at. "_My tsahík, in Na'vi terms, you're both young still._" She arched an eyebrow. "_Well, you definitely are. Forty is still a possible age to have a baby. And my olo'eyktan, you are definitely still able to. Na'vi life expectancy goes all the way up to a hundred and thirty as an average, and you're still far off that._"

Eytukan had stopped listening. His hand slowly drifted down to rest on his mate's stomach. It felt firmer than usual. He purred and rested his forehead on hers. Grace smiled and snuggled in. Hari gave a sly smile and bowed low, before excusing himself so they could have their private moment of happiness.

Once they were alone, Eytukan brought up Grace's lips to kiss. "_I'm sorry_," he whispered, his ears going down. Grace looked up into his eyes. "_For leaving. Like that. I… I really missed you._"

Grace ran her finger along his cheekbone, nodding slowly. "_I missed you, too._"

Eytukan gestured for them to sit down, which they both did, still keeping their hands clasped. "_And I'm not just saying this because of what we just found out._" Grace breathed out in relief. That answered her next question. "_I knew I needed to come home. Urgently._"

"_Did you know?"_

"_Are you joking?_" Grace gave a small laugh. "_I was floored when I found out! No I came back because – " _Eytukan paused for a moment, wondering what to say. He wasn't good at lying. " – _Ixchel can take care of things herself. And I needed to be here._" It wasn't a complete lie, and Grace was so happy to be back with him that she didn't catch the slight hesitation. "_I felt dreadful, leaving you like that. I wouldn't be able to stand it if you said that to me and I left. I… I am so, so sorry Gracie. I was under stress, and that is no excuse but, it's all I can offer. Will you take me back?_"

He sounded almost like a child when he asked that, so unsure of himself. Grace knew what was going through his head; he was scared he'd stepped over the line too much and she would leave him. "_As painful as it was when you left, in my mind, I'd hoped you wouldn't be gone too long._" Eytukan smiled, squeezing their fingers a little tighter. It felt strange when they held hands, with four fingers and five, but they had found a way to make it work, with her hand over his. He brought her hand up to kiss, just looking at her.

Grace leant in to rest her head on his shoulder. "_I just… I still can't believe it._"

"_Neither_," Eytukan softly said, so unsure of himself. Now that Hari had gone, and the news had had time to settle, he began to panic. He was excited, over the moon, to be sure, but this was dangerous. They didn't know if there were any complications for pregnancy between a Na'vi and an ex-Avatar. Despite what Hari said, they were old. They would slowly be entering the twilight years, Eytukan definitely, by the time the child was ten. He wasn't young anymore. He wouldn't be able to train the child properly as a father should. And if Grace was right that it was a son, Eytukan felt guilty already. Would he be a good father at this age? And what about the clan? A shudder went down his spine. What would _Neytiri _say?

"_You know,_" Eytukan softly murmured, kissing Grace's head. He gave a sarcastic laugh. "_This will be the first child I know is mine._"

Grace looked up, unsure of what to say. She snuggled in. "_Neytiri is yours._"

"_We have no way of proving that._"

"_But isn't that what you said to her? Just before…_" Just before everything that happened, happened, was what Grace was going to say. Neytiri had found out about their affair, and confronted her father about what had happened. Eytukan, in his anger, had told her about her parentage, but even he himself hadn't known. "_You never quite told me what happened, even after eight years of being together._"

Eytukan glanced at Grace. "_I did, actually_," he said, but when Grace frowned, he continued, "_It probably was before you really grasped Na'vi. And I think I was drunk so my words were probably slurred, so…_"

"_What happened, my love?_"

There was a long silence as the leader gathered his thoughts. Slowly, he began to pull out memories he had tried to suppress. "_Mo'at and I had been very close when we were children, and I stupidly thought we'd always be so, but she mated another male. I had never liked him, even before then. I was living in this delusion that since I had become the leader of the Omticaya, that guaranteed her interest in me, but it was not so._

"_So she was with him for about four years until Sylwanin came along. They had left the country by then and gone to another clan. After that time, Mo'at brought Sylwanin and came to the Omaticaya to visit. I think at that point her mate had turned abusive so she ran away. And, well, to put it plainly, we had our time together and I thought that meant she'd break her ties with him, but she went right back. Within three months however, she came back and told me she was pregnant. And since her mate had returned within that time, she didn't know who the father was. And to this day we still don't know. Mo'at ran away from him several years later, by the time Neytiri was born. I assumed since she named Neytiri after my grandmother, it meant something, but we honestly never knew. We don't have… tests like you did back on Earth. Not tests like that."_

Grace didn't say anything for a time. The memory had obviously hurt her mate, so she did the only thing she could and wrapped an arm around him. "_You did the right thing by taking them in. And honestly, Neytiri looks so much like you, I'd be shocked if she wasn't._" Grace nuzzled Eytukan. "_I am sorry for what happened. But, you get a fresh start – right?_"

Eytukan turned to his new mate, and slowly smiled. It was true. He did. He would never throw away his old life, but it was nice to have a second chance. "_Right_," he clarified, bringing Grace in for a kiss. He kept his hand on her stomach. Grace's tail sought out his own, and they entwined, just happy in each other's happiness.

"_Next question._" Eytukan glanced down at his mate as she spoke. She looked up at him. "_How do we tell everyone?_"


	8. Mothers

**Chapter Eight | Mothers**

"_**I know you're hurting. So is everyone else. We all miss her, just as much as you. I promise, you're not alone in this.**_**"**

Neytiri woke up with a start, her heart pounding. Never had she had such a nightmare as the one she had just had running through her mind. She was burning up; it was the first time a dream had ever caused her to sweat. She clutched at her heart, and softly began to cry. For several minutes, maybe even longer, she lay on her hammock, softly crying. "Ma…" she murmured every now and again. She hadn't dreamt of Mo'at in weeks. She had hoped that she wouldn't, not like that. But she could hear the screams, the blood spurting out of Mo'at as the blade plunged in. She hadn't even been there, but perhaps that was the problem – the mind can concoct all sorts of fantasies.

Slowly, she began to breathe normally, and the tears stopped. She stepped out of her hammock, which was now placed near to Eytukan and Grace's quarters – no longer did she sleep in the general sleeping area, as she had for a while. The tradition amongst Na'vi was that families slept together, and as youngsters and until they were married, they slept nestled with Eytukan and Mo'at. Or they would have. Neytiri continually kicked herself for not properly seeing the problems in their mateship from before. The only reason a family slept apart was due to tragedy, or if there was some major fight. Mo'at and Eytukan often played musical hammocks for years, and whenever Mo'at left the hammock – which was often – Neytiri and Sylwanin had gone with her through their own choice to sleep in the lounge, leaving Eytukan alone. Once Sylwanin died, Neytiri kept away from both of them. So there had been the Tsanten family – the father in the quarters, the mother hidden away in the royals lounge, and the last daughter in a private hammock amongst the other clan members. There was nothing stopping her from going to her father now, but she felt strange about it. Grace was not her mother, and she knew that Grace's kind – despite her insistence that she was no longer human – didn't believe in such things. She shuddered to think now of even sleeping in that hammock. Grace had tainted that, in many ways.

So, she decided to head to a hammock that would welcome her. A wiser part of her mind told her to turn back as she leapt across the branches in Hometree, but she gently rocked the hammock where one lone male slept. He didn't stir, so she pushed it a bit harder.

Tsyal slowly turned around. He was taken aback to see her. "_Neytiri?_" he questioned, rubbing his red eyes.

Neytiri was in a strange mood, one that made her want to pick a fight, and almost made her say, 'Some hunter you are if you didn't wake immediately.' But she instead said, "_May I?_"

Her boyfriend nodded and touched the top of the hammock, letting the plant unfurl. She slipped in beside him. It wasn't uncommon anymore for an unmated couple to spend the night together. In Eytukan's adolescent years, it was debauchery. Now life had a simpler feel, so she didn't feel concerned about what she was doing.

Tsyal brushed her cheek. "_What's wrong, little bird?_" he asked gently. Neytiri said nothing and buried her face into his shoulder. "_I'm going to need more than that._"

"_I just had a nightmare. About mother_." Tsyal said nothing. "_I just… I just wanted a hug._"

"_You know you can come to me for anything_."

Neytiri gave the faintest smile, but it disappeared just as quickly. "_I want her back, Tsyal. I can't stop the feeling that I could have prevented it, you know?_"

Tsyal just looked at her, his expression blank. "_You couldn't have helped anything_," he said matter of factly. Neytiri's ears went back. "_It was her choice to go, just as much as it was your choice._"

She bit the inside of her cheek. "_I just… I could have done more. As a daughter, everything._" She sniffed a little. "_You know, before she left to see her sister, she told me she was going to teach me h-how to s-sing properly to Eywa, as a tsahík knows, and she was going to do it before she left._" Neytiri looked up to the ceiling, trying to force the tears back into her head. "_But… but I said I was too busy and… and now I'll never know what she was going to teach me. It's lost… forever._"

"_Neytiri, stop._" She glanced up at him, her heart falling. He still looked at her almost as if he were seeing nothing. "_It was a freak accident, nothing more. You cannot feel guilty over something you could not control._ _It's been six months. The best thing you can do for her and you is to move on._"

This wasn't what she had come to hear. Tsyal looked like he felt he had said the right thing, for he now smiled and kissed the top of her head. "_I know you're hurting. So is everyone else. We all miss her, just as much as you. I promise, you're not alone in this._"

She let him kiss her cheek, but then moved out of his grip. She felt hot, and not because of their proximity or her nightmare previously. "_You're right_," she said, touching the hammock to open it.

Tsyal's smile faded. "_I thought you came for a hug?_"

"_All taken care of, thank you_." Neytiri looked at him for a long moment once she stood on the branch, before walking slowly back to her room.

**· · ·**

Grace couldn't sleep that night, and for that matter, neither could Eytukan. They were too hyped up on a range of emotions – excitement, anxiety, wonder, and everything in between. They lay together on the hammock, just quietly talking. Their tails were melded together, and Eytukan was on his side while Grace was on her back, close to one another. Eytukan smiled proudly at his beautiful mate. He nuzzled her hair gently, making her smile in turn. "_I think we should tell them tomorrow,_" he said.

"_Maybe_," Grace acknowledged. "_But I prefer waiting a little longer_."

"_Why?_"

How could she say it was because she was afraid? Their reactions she could deal with – everyone had reacted in interesting manners when their relationship was found out, and in turn when they mated, but what Grace was really scared of was losing it. After spending time together, they'd tried to estimate when it could have happened, and they had come to the conclusion it had been just before Eytukan left. Grace hadn't noticed but Eytukan had been extremely silent when they figured it out. Their last sexual escapade had, in his memory, not started off pleasantly. And in turn Eytukan hadn't noticed that Grace had shivered slightly when they found the date – they both remembered and said nothing. If it had been before Eytukan left, that meant the foetus was just over three weeks old; terrifyingly new. Anything could happen, but Grace didn't want to say that to Eytukan. Na'vi dealt with miscarriages differently – it was shameful. She held her tongue and shrugged. "_A suggestion. So we can figure out how to say it._"

Eytukan thought for a moment. "_All right, so when?_"

"_After the first trimester?_"

"_What?" _Eytukan asked, sitting up a little straighter to see her better. "_That's very far off, Gracie. Don't you think they deserve to know?_"

"_Of course I do! I do want to tell everyone, believe me,_" Grace assured him with a smile, determined that he wouldn't see the fear in her eyes, "_But this way we can ease Neytiri into it, too._"

"_What does she have to do with anything?_"

Grace didn't know whether he was being facetious, or dead serious. Eytukan wasn't one for jokes in the general sense. "_Think about what she's going through. Just losing her mother, her father mates someone else so quickly and then… well, gets her pregnant._" He sighed and rolled over onto his back. Grace moved to rest her head on his muscular chest. "_I know it's been hard but you lost your mother at her age. Do you not remember how awful that was?_"

Eytukan frowned. He didn't like talking about his past generally, specifically his mother. Most who tried did not get far. Grace knew the story – she had died in childbirth to his younger half-sister. He hoped she didn't remember that part currently though, and he pushed the thought out of his mind. He blinked his assent several moments later. "_Yes. I do._" He felt conflicted. He loved his daughter, but he was excited at the prospect of his son. He didn't like the idea of sacrificing his happiness for it. The moment he thought that, he realised how awful that was. "_Yes, you are right. We will wait._"

"_Good, thank you._" Grace relaxed as he agreed to wait. Thank goodness. Her current nerves were settled. Momentarily. That was until Eytukan said, turning his head to look at her, "_I think we should at least let Adaman know. And tell him and Hari to keep it quiet._"

"_I'll agree to the second part, but not the first._"

"_Why not Adaman?_"

Grace sighed softly. "_You know I love him too but think about it. What if it slips we told him first before anyone else and then everyone gets annoyed at us for picking favourites?_"

Eytukan pursed his lips and groaned. He gave a laugh that held no humour. "_Ironic. The happiest time of our life and we must keep it quiet to keep others happy._"

Grace merely kissed him and said nothing. They'd done that before. For the first time in their relationship, she felt as if she were the leader. For once she felt she was looking out for the clan rather than just them. How had those positions gotten reversed? She couldn't help but smile at him. "_You're really happy, aren't you?_"

"_Yes I am!_" Eytukan smiled at her, his eyes wide with wonder and joy. "_Can you blame me?_" No, she really could not. "_Are you?_"

When she didn't respond, Eytukan's ears went back. Grace realised how that looked and sat up, shaking herself off. 'Think of an excuse, fast,' she thought, not wanting to dampen the spirits. Thankfully, an idea came to her. She laughed a little. "_My goodness… Do you remember, uh, I think maybe six years ago?_" Eytukan tilted his head. "_We had a conversation along these lines. Remember when Marai had her baby?_"

It took him a moment, but he nodded. He rolled back onto his side and pulled her close to him, kissing her head. "_Yes, I do. How long had we been together then?_"

"_Only about a year._" She quickly counted in her head. "_Oh, actually, two. We've been together eight years now._"

"_Mmm. So back at the start of our relationship when you'd endlessly question me on everything._"

"_How did you ever put up with me?_"

"_Well,_" he said, lithely beginning to trace one of her stripes on her arm with his index finger. "_Once you kept quiet, the sex was great._" Grace gasped and elbowed him hard in the ribs, making him cough and laugh.

"_You're an ass!_"

He coughed for a moment more before shaking it off. "_In all seriousness, I found it charming. All your questions. Besides, I was curious about you, in turn._ _Speaking candidly like that… made me learn about your kind as well._"

Grace curled her tail tighter around his, and took his hand in hers. She looked at his four fingers wound with her five. Her face turned contemplative. "_We have the answer to that now, don't we?_"

His eyes trailed to her stomach momentarily, before he kissed the side of her mouth. "_Yes, we do._"

**Six Years Before**

"_I've always been curious._"

They were lying on the grassy bank near the lake's edge, both of them staring into the evening sky. Grace's green top and brown jacket were thrown to the side, leaving her just in her human styled black bra. Eytukan lay beside her, just watching her as she spoke. He blinked once to let her know she could continue with her question.

"_How do Na'vi have children?_"

Eytukan blinked now in curiosity rather than in response to her question. She sounded like a child wanting to know the facts of life. "_Assuming, the same way humans do."_

Grace thought about that for a moment. "_So, you don't do anything different?_"

"_All depends on what your kind do._"

She gave a sheepish grin. "_Basically what we did five minutes ago._"

"_Oh._" He looked at her, and even though his face didn't change, Grace felt she could detect a discreet merriment. "_Same here._"

"_You told me all about the bond that you make with a mate._"

Eytukan blinked once again. Grace had to remember that that was their version of a nod, and not just him blinking very slowly. She had noticed that in the past year he had begun to nod from time to time, obviously picking up on her movements.

"_You don't need that to have children?_"

He didn't say anything for a while. He just stared at her. He was very intense. His glare made Grace internally shudder when she realised that it was aimed directly at her. She felt like she was under a spotlight, and while usually not a huge fan of such things, she liked it. It was maybe twenty seconds before he answered her. "_Adaman has a son. Does he have a mate?_"

He said it in such a way that Grace wondered if he was insulting her for not knowing, but he didn't have a harsh look on his face. "_Well, no. So there's nothing wrong with that?_"

Silence again. "_Uncommon,_" Eytukan finally replied, "_But no. Nothing wrong. Actually, it's becoming more common these days._" He seemed to think for a moment before responding. "_More and more young Na'vi find it terrifying to have that close of a personal relationship with someone._" He hesitated, thinking to himself of Mo'at and him. He was such a hypocrite at the best of times, he had discovered. They'd done the same unintentionally after all. Thankfully, Grace hadn't picked up on his quietness, most likely because she was used to him retreating back to his thoughts every now and again. It was a good thing, he figured, seeing as she'd never know what was in his mind.

"_Can Avatars have children?_" he asked her, knowing she was a scientist back with her kind. She'd been able to explain she gained knowledge about the world around her, similar to a lot of the teachers in their clan. He knew her expertise lay with plants but he assumed she knew a bit about the body.

Grace shook her head. "_Doubtful. You see_," she turned onto her side so she was looking directly at him, "_We disconnect. Our brains literally move elsewhere. No life form can survive within us._" She gave a laugh, a sound that Eytukan loved, though he wouldn't admit it. "_Why? Scared of getting me pregnant?"_

"_Honestly? Yes._" He didn't flinch when he said the next part. "_That's why I always pull out._"

"_Huh. I thought it was because you just liked doing that._"

"_No._"

She looked into his weathered face. She wished she knew what he had looked like when he was younger. He was ten years older than her human form, they'd figured that out, so approximately sixty years old, making her Avatar twenty years younger than him. A shocking difference, but if that was correct, it was possible there was a photo of him somewhere in RDA when he was a boy. Humans had been on Pandora for so many years – one might have snapped a photo when he was younger for research. Eytukan had said the first time he got in contact with humans was when he was eight years old. Grace thinking of Eytukan at that age made her heart pang, but even more so at the thought of him fatherless, with a mother who had mated again and moved on, leaving him to explore the world by himself. He had barely told her anything on it, just casually saying what happened to his parents. She was dying to know more. Who had his mother mated? What did he treat Eytukan like? She assumed it was bad due to the way his jaw locked when she asked too many questions. He was the most remarkable person – creature – she'd ever met. But he _was _a person to her, and that was the amazing thing.

Out of the blue, she gave a laugh. Her lover frowned in confusion at the sudden humour. "_It's interesting,_" she began to explain, "_Back on Earth, we had all these…_" She realised there wasn't a word for it. " 'Films', _where aliens were terrifying and cruel. And yet…_" She moved over to rest her head on his chest. "_You're not. You're nicer than we are, I feel._"

He didn't know what a 'film' was, but he didn't want to seem dense so he said nothing. A leader was supposed to be all knowing. So he spoke of something he knew a bit more on. "_We feared that about aliens, too._"

"_I'm assuming that's us._"

When he didn't respond, Grace frowned. Were there even more? He didn't confirm it or deny it. "_Eywa told us you existed and that you'd visit. My father spoke of it._" Her ears perked again, hoping to get more of an insight into Eytukan Tsan'ten, but he had moved on. "_We were scared. But you seem quite nice, too._"

Grace smiled at him, but it faded slowly as she thought of what being a human meant. A world full of concrete, no trees, crime and corruption. "_I'm not sure about that._"

He tilted his head again.

"_Well, back on Earth we had, _'movies'."

He arched an eye-ridge in confusion.

"_It was a form of entertainment. We would see pictures, like on the camera?_" Eytukan knew what that was, at least. The Na'vi had come up with a name for it when Grace and several other Avatars with her brought it over to show them. He had liked the crisp reflection of him and Grace – he'd never seen himself so clearly before, and he'd asked Grace if that was really what he looked like, to which she had said yes, but even better.

"_But they are moving_," Grace continued, "_I'll film you one day and show you. Anyway, years ago – over a hundred years ago – there was a film called 'Alien'. Terrifying. It was about scary aliens who impregnated humans through their mouth._"

Eytukan made a strange face, his lips moving as if he'd tasted something horrible. "_Charming. You have… interesting entertainment._"

"_Best way to put it! Our kind is absolutely fascinated by outside life. But they always assumed you were evil._"

"_Are we?_"

Grace gave him a once over with her liquid-gold eyes. She smirked and pushed him on his shoulders with her hands, making him roll onto his back. She was glad he hadn't resisted that; he was so strong he usually didn't move when she attempted it. She found herself on top, and she let her tail twist with his own. She leant down to kiss him softly. "_No_," she whispered, and she saw the rare smile he had come up. "_You aren't._"

Eytukan looked up at the beautiful Avatar. He ran his four-fingered hand along her cheek, staring into her eyes. She was the only one in the clan's radius who did that. While others found it daring and rude – Sylwanin had warned her to stare just below his and Mo'at's eyes, but she hadn't heeded the advice – he loved it. He felt closer to her. And perhaps that was why he blatantly asked, "_Do you have children, Grace?_"

She froze. He figured he'd asked the wrong question, and quickly thought of ways to back track. She'd never mentioned and that was why he had been curious, but now he regretted it. Surely, she would have mentioned it after the past couple of years. And it would have begged the bigger question – how could she have left them? The way she treated the Omaticaya children told him she had a strong mothering quality. She wouldn't have abandoned her own.

She looked away from his eyes. He kept his expression blank, allowing her to change the topic. "_No_." She said it very suddenly, and very final. He figured the conversation was over. But then she added after several breaths, "_I mean I… I practically raised my niece but, no._"

Eytukan felt guilty, but he didn't show it in his face. He wasn't very good with expressing himself around her. She figured it was because they were still new, but he knew personally he wasn't fantastic at it. "_Did you ever want one?_"

"_I did._" The way her ears were involuntarily going down made him feel awful, and subconsciously he took her five-fingered hand in his own. "_Very much. But I suppose you could say I never found the right male_."

"_I am sorry._" There was nothing else he could say. No way he could say, 'Maybe you have found the right one now', because he knew perfectly well that he was the only one she was with. Biologically, it was impossible. Morally, it was unthinkable. They'd never have one. They wouldn't have a future together and they both knew that. It was just the here and now.

Grace forced herself to smile. "_But it's still not my time. Probably never will be._" She cleared her throat and said, "_I'm nearing fifty faster than I'd like to think as a human and as a general rule, females find it very hard then. We're not like you!_"

He knew she was trying to make them laugh so she could forget about what she'd said, but he wasn't exactly the laughing sort. He supplied her a smile. "_You never know,_" he offered.

"_No, no I do._" Grace smiled a little. Menopause would probably hit her in the next few years. She felt like she was waiting for it, armed with nothing. "_Not much choice in humans here._" She frowned a little then, thinking of Miles, her ex. She'd had a chance with him, but now she couldn't fathom it. How awful that would have been, if they had gotten married and had a baby? It caused a strange sickening feeling in her stomach at the thought. "_Either way, I'm happy with you. And I have the children, you know, at school…_"

He didn't know what to say. He felt dreadful for bringing her down after such a nice evening, when they were supposed to just be enjoying their few stolen moments before heading back to the clan, and he wracked his brains to try and turn it around.

"_I am sorry_." It was all he could say.

She shook her head gently. Eytukan wrapped his arms around her shoulders and eased her down onto him, letting her rest on him. Mo'at never did that, half because he hadn't liked it and half because she didn't, either. But with Grace, it felt right, and he liked cuddling with her.

"_You have to wonder, though. What would a Na'vi and Avatar baby be like?_"

He was glad that Grace had found a way to allow him to bring the conversation around. He leaned back to look at her. He gave her that rare smile. He touched her nose with his finger. And then he complimented her with, "_If it were up to me, as wonderful as you._"


	9. Home Is the Place to Be

**Chapter Nine | Home Is the Place to Be**

**She was **_**pissed**_**. And now he was. So he said something he never thought he would. "Neytiri, shut the fuck up!" **

Eytukan awoke with a start when he heard, "_Get up, get up!_" He sat up in his hammock to see Adaman sweeping into the room, announcing his arrival loudly. And angrily.

He quickly checked on his mate, who was still fast asleep, curled up under his arm. His hand was – as usual while they slept these days – protectively over her still flat stomach even three weeks later, though often he wondered if he could feel a kick from time to time. Now though he retracted it like it was burning his hand. He felt awful keeping this from Adaman – he thought he was done with secrets with his best friend after the affair – but Grace had begged him. So he listened to her.

"_Shh!_" he quickly murmured, though she hadn't stirred beside him. For once he was glad she was a deep sleeper. He beckoned his friend over, and Adaman clamped his lips shut and came over. "_You're going to wake the whole clan up with that racket. What's going on?_"

He got a waving of a piece of parchment under his nose in response, before Adaman took it to his own face and read it: "_Mo'at and Eytukan, please come to the Zeppan tribe as soon as convenient for you. We haven't seen you in a while. Bring Neytiri and Tsu'tey as well! Do they have children yet? Are they going to be the leaders of the Omaticaya soon? From Fahruk and Mat'ak."_

Now he understood the anger. His ears went back, and he bit his lip. "_Great…_"

Adaman nodded, his eyes flashing. "_Did I mention the part where they addressed 'Mo'at'? Oh and the fact that Neytiri and Tsu'tey are meant to be a mated couple by now?_" He sighed, putting his head in his hands. "_How could you not tell her siblings what happened?_"

"_Oh you know how they are… They never care about anything else except themselves._"

"_I'm fairly certain that when Mat'ak asked for Mo'at to come and see her eight months ago – you know, when you were still having your little thing on the side, and don't give me that look – " _Eytukan had scowled at him, but he dropped it immediately. " – _it meant she cared that her only sister was there in the possible last months of her life. She's still alive, and you haven't even sent word of anything._"

It was simply because he hadn't ever known where to start. How was one supposed to begin a letter that would go something like this? – '_Fahruk and Mat'ak, unfortunately your sister was killed when defending the Omaticaya tribe against the humans. Neytiri is seeing one of the warriors and Tsu'tey has mated a human. Oh, and so have I. She's now the tsahík of the tribe. And she's pregnant. See you soon._'

Thinking about it, he should have said something tastefully edited earlier.

Adaman was sending arrows with his eyes straight into Eytukan's chest. He sighed, thinking of how to get around this dilemma. After Mo'at's death, everything had gotten hectic – Grace had been trying to lead the tribe, everyone had been up in arms about the human problem and not much thought had been given to their neighbouring tribes. And not being close with Mo'at's family, he hadn't even thought about it… He breathed out, shaking his head. His fingers moved to massage his temples.

"_I swore up and down I'd never return to that tribe._"

The healer softened at that statement. Adaman gestured for Eytukan to move over, and he perched on the edge of the hammock, looking at him with a touch of sympathy. Who would want to go back to the tribe where one's parents had been killed? "_I know,_" he said, reaching out to put a hand on Eytukan's shoulder. His friend looked at him, and all he could do was give a shrug. "_But we have to do something. We cannot just… not reply._"

"_Sure we can. We just pretend it never arrived._"

"_Eytukan!_"

He had said that a little loud, for Grace stirred. The two looked at her as she opened her eyes. She frowned in sleepy confusion as she saw the third person, and groaned. "_At least I'm not naked this time_," she muttered, and the three laughed, remembering what had happened when Adaman came back to the Omaticaya tribe.

"_It's a shame you're not_," Adaman teased, causing Eytukan to playfully push him out of the hammock. He laughed it off, before calming and looking serious. He placed the parchment in Eytukan's hands, and giving him a final look, excused himself, saying there were injured warriors to attend to.

She sat up in the hammock, and looked at the parchment. "_What's that?_"

So Eytukan relayed everything that he had just been told, and read her the letter, during which Grace's expression became darker and darker.

"_Let's burn it and say we never got it._"

"_I wanted to do that, but logically, they might turn up here, Gracie. How would that look?_"

"_Well… we can lie and say you got drunk and mated with me. Problem solved!_" She got a well-practised look from her mate that read, 'You're not being practical.' She threw her hands up into the air, symbolising she had no idea how to tackle this problem. That made two of them.

But an idea began to coalesce in his mind. It would be going against what they had agreed, but he saw it as the only potential option. "_We need to tell the tribe._"

She turned rigid beside him, and pulled her knees up to her chest, obscuring her not-even-there belly. "_What does that have to do with this?_" she asked.

"_Well we at least need to tell the family. They deserve to know, darling. And we tackle that, and then we can tackle this._"

"_Walk me through your thoughts, because you're not making sense right now._"

He gently pried her hand off her knee, kissing it, before answering. "_We tell them first. Because we will have to go to the Zeppan tribe and tell them too. How awful would it look if our own clan members didn't know? And how would they feel finding out that way for the first time?_"

She sighed, wondering if he was just saying this because he wanted the tribe to know already. He had been pestering her at the end of every week – 'One more week down! Can we tell them now?' – and she could understand where he was coming from. Eventually she would start to show, and while that time was a little way off, it was best to let them know rather than cutting it so fine with the timing. And it was true – how awful would it be for them to discover it the same time that Fahruk and Mat'ak did? They would have to deal with them soon.

Due to those thoughts swirling in her mind, she put a hand on her belly, as if trying to draw strength from that. She nodded. "_All right. We'll tell them this evening._"

• • •

Neytiri was rubbing resin over her bow near the bottom of the stairs after dinner. She had been avoiding Tsyal's gaze all night, and just pretended like the most interesting person in the world was Peyral, who had been talking about her mating to Za'un. While she hadn't wanted to listen to someone else's successes whilst thinking of her failures, she didn't want to face that one.

"Ney Ney?" came Jake's voice, and she waved him over with a flick of her tail. "Actually, you need to come with me."

"Is that an order?" she asked, sounding bitter.

Jake frowned, wondering where the attitude had come from. The head warrior feathers on his shoulders suddenly felt very heavy, and he wished he could take them off. "No?" he tried.

'Then no,' was the immediate thought that came to her head, but she knew how negative she was being. She looked up at him, and shouldered her bow, listening. "Where to?"

He shrugged then, feeling glad she had calmed down. "I don't know. Lounge. Your dad wanted to talk to us."

"Who is 'us'?"

"You, me, Bree, Tsu'tey, and Adaman. The usual gang!" He said the last part with a grin; she arched her eyebrow at the strange word. "I don't know, I was trying to be funny and failed. Come on."

Reluctantly, she followed him. She was a mass of emotions right now, and she didn't know why she felt this hot, burning sensation in her chest. She was literally feeling that her heart was heavy within it, that it was pushing her down to the floor. And the minute she saw her father with his hand on Grace's shoulder, it felt like it was pulsing ten times faster, and it was hurting. She sat down on the floor without a word, and Jake sat next to her.

"_Thanks for coming,_" Grace said to them, and she couldn't judge her feelings from the tone of her voice or her expression – she gave nothing away. But she felt she could see the hint of a smile on her father's face.

Jake wondered if this was going to be uncomfortable. He knew Grace well, and she carried an air of worry around her, which only intensified as her niece and her mate as well as Adaman came in to sit down too.

"_All right, why are you cutting into my evening time, you two?"_ Adaman asked with a stretch and a yawn.

"_Can we keep Na'vi simple?_" Jake requested, and Bree readily agreed.

Eytukan looked at the two past Avatars, and nodded once. "_We can._" He looked at his mate, who looked up at him, both of them trying to find strength in each other's eyes. And they did find it. They always did. Grace felt more reassured as he regarded her, and they both shared a smile.

"_Falling asleep here,_" Adaman told them loudly enough. Bree nudged him with her hip, as she had understood that.

"_Sorry,_" Eytukan said. "_But, Grace and I have an announcement to make._" They looked at one another again, each wondering how to proceed. They shared a nervous laugh. Neytiri rolled her eyes, flicking her tail agitatedly. But had she known what was coming, she might not have wanted them to hurry it up.

"_Well, um… I guess we should just come out and say it_," Eytukan said, sounding as nervous as a teenager. Grace looked sheepish. Everyone who was waiting for this announcement exchanged glances as if to say 'What's going on?'

Then Eytukan moved behind Grace, wrapping his arms around her, his hands placed on her stomach as they both smiled. "_We're going to have a baby._"

There was a dead silence. Tsu'tey then started to laugh, and everyone looked at him. "_You're kidding, right?_"

"_No._"

Tsu'tey stopped laughing.

Adaman was wide awake now, and he stared at them, mouth agape, at a loss of what to say. "_How was this – how did you…?"_ But he knew how pointless that question was. He was the head healer – of course he knew how it worked. He was just absolutely stunned.

Bree could feel the tension that hung palpably in the air. Tsu'tey looked with the same expression of shock he had worn when she had punched him. Adaman was still processing how he hadn't figured this out already. Jake looked like he was having a heart attack. And Neytiri… Well there was no one word or phrase to describe exactly how she looked. And Bree herself was stunned. Were they all thinking the same thing? How had an affair ended up like this?

But pushing all that aside, she knew she had to be the one to say something – something positive. She stood up and smiled, opening her arms, and gave a cry of happiness. A baby! What wonderful news for them! Never for her though, she added in her head. "Congratulations, the both of you!" she said. Grace came to hug her niece, and even Eytukan did too.

"Yes! _Congratulations!_" Adaman joined in, giving a genuine smile as well and a laugh. He nudged his brother with his elbow when he came up. "_Good to know you still have it!_"

Tsu'tey and Jake looked at one another, and nodded, both standing up to smile and hug them, especially Grace, who looked very happy. And of course she should be – she had been called 'Mother' all those years by the clan, and now she was actually going to be one! She'd never had the chance before in her life.

Neytiri sat rooted to the spot. She felt like the world was crumbling beneath her, and the only stable position was where she currently was. But that soon would disappear. She had to take a leap, and run across the other collapsing parts to get to more stable ground. She had to get out of here.

Grace saw her getting to her feet, and for a brief moment thought she was coming to say congratulations. But one look at her face, and she knew she had been right – they should have waited longer. Neytiri's expression was deadly as she turned around and left the room.

Eytukan's ears flew backwards as his daughter retreated. Grace breathed out slowly, feeling pained. "_I feel responsible,_" she murmured to her mate, touching his hand. "_I'll go talk to her._"

"_No. Don't._" Eytukan looked at her, and kissed her head, before leaving the room to go after her in his mate's stead.

Neytiri was storming quickly down the hall, her movements harsh as she headed for the stairs. "_Neytiri!_" She heard her father call and did not respond. She couldn't look at him right now… How could she? How could she look at the one man she thought would be there for her for his entire life? Fathers were supposed to be the one man you had who wouldn't break your heart. She couldn't even look at his face. All she could see was the man who had destroyed her life. He had taken away her mother. He had taken away her pride. Her dignity. She couldn't bear it. It made her feel so sick to her stomach.

"_Neytiri_. _Please turn around._" He softly called. She was tempted to ignore it, but an inner part of her slowed down. She actually wanted to hear what he had to say about this, so she listened and did as he asked. "_I want to talk to you about this._"

"_Oh? Really? Is that so?_" she replied in a low and dangerous tone. Her eyes flashed an inner fury that was bubbling at the surface. _"Is that why you chose to tell me with everyone else around?_"

"_My daughter – _"

"_No!_" The anger had broken through her at that statement. She bared her teeth, advancing back towards him, and he was smart enough to back away as she came closer. _"Don't you 'My daughter' me! Don't you dare!_" Her ferocious expression seemed to dissipate then, and she breathed out slowly, just looking at him, trying to understand. _"How could you do this…? How could you? What was going through your mind? And Eywa, if you say that it was a mistake, so help me…_"

But he said nothing. Just the sideways glance his eyes gave after several long moments gave her the answer. Her mouth just dropped open at his admission. And she really felt the world almost give way. She felt that buzzing sensation in her eyes, like the blood was rushing through her head too fast. She doubled over, taking off her bow so her body could do so, clutching her sides like she was in pain, though it was just a movement to try and stop her from collapsing. _"Oh my… That's what it was, wasn't it?_" she asked quietly.

Eytukan didn't see it like that – he thought she was hurt. So he came over to her, trying to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but that was what detonated the bomb inside her. She threw off his hand violently, pulling away so quickly.

"_Fuck you!_" she snarled, her incisors bared at him again. He had shock on his face as he looked at her, and she pushed him hard away from her. He was unprepared for it, and he moved backwards when she did. Raw, unadulterated anger pulsed through her, giving her physical and emotional strength. She said what she wanted to say. _"Fuck you, Eytukan!_"

That had done it. Eytukan's shocked expression stuck completely onto his face as he took in what she had just said. His first name…

"_I cannot believe a leader could be so selfish… So self-involved_," she growled low, sounding like thunder. She glowered at him, wanting to list all of his shortcomings, but she knew that would take a lifetime. "_Meanwhile, I was a good little warrior. I obeyed, I listened to leaders who were just looking for a way to screw me over…_"

He felt like he was working hard to catch his breath at the verbal lashing he was getting. He smoothed out his expression, and slowly put his hands up, as if he were trying to tame a wild animal. An offensive approach would not work on her. "_Neytiri, please could you let me say something?_"

"_Why should I? So you can feed me more deceits?_ _Do more slanderous acts against the clan? No!_" she yelled, her voice carrying through the walls of Hometree. The lightning crack had come, and it was audible in every crack, every crevice, of their home. "_Don't even try! Because you know what the real pain is? I love you… I love you, but I fucking hate you!_"

She looked quite deranged. She was standing with her eyes in squinted anger and her teeth exposed. She gave a final snarl and turned back around, leaving. And he was smart enough not to dare to go after her.

But someone else wasn't quite as smart. The group had been watching from the entrance to the lounge, and they all exchanged uneasy glances. Jake was the one to step away, ignoring Bree's protest that whatever he did he'd make it worse. Maybe, but there was a slim chance he could make it better. He walked past Eytukan, who was still staring in incredulity after his daughter, and took off after her.

Neytiri was walking blindly, and she accidently hit into a couple of members, causing some cries of shock as she marched her way to the forest. It was a cool night, but she didn't pay any mind to the goose bumps that began to raise on her skin. Her mind told her she was too hot with anger to pay attention to it. Tears sprung to her eyes, stinging, but she didn't wipe them away – she didn't want anyone to see that she was crying. Though they'd all heard her yells. They all felt they had some inkling of knowledge as to the cause, but if they really knew… Well, that was the thing that was getting to her. How exactly would the clan react? Negatively, without a doubt, as she was.

She walked to the treeline, disappearing amongst the trees, and ignoring the calls of her name. No, she didn't want to listen to whatever he had to say. She was moving so quickly, and she could hear fast footfalls behind her as he struggled to catch up, but she didn't realise exactly how close he was until she felt his arm clasp on her wrist. "Neytiri, please just – "

Neither of them were prepared for her reaction. She swung around with the bow in her hand, hitting him squarely in the jaw. Jake gasped and flew backwards onto the moss, the plant springing to a bright life under him. "Goddamn!" he exclaimed, touching his cheekbone where she had struck him.

The two of them looked at one another in shock, and she was snapped back to reality. Her ears went down, and she gave a trembling sigh, extending a four-fingered hand out to her friend. "I'm sorry, ma Jake," she murmured, helping him to his feet as he rubbed his face, which would undoubtedly bruise up from the stinging hit.

He shook his head. "No apology needed," he carefully told her.

She looked relieved for a moment. And then she burst into tears.

And he was at a loss of how to help her. She slowly sank to the floor, her legs folding fawnlike beneath her. The moss took on an imprint around her, glowing brightly around her though she had never felt so dark.

Jake slowly went down to the floor again, kneeling. He placed a hand on her shoulder as tears ran down her cheeks, and he gently drew her towards him. She came so easily, just collapsing heavily onto him, her arms seeking comfort as she wrapped her arms around him. He enfolded her in his own, gently rocking her. His hands rubbed quickly over her bare arms; she was shivering. It was all he could do while murmuring, "Shh, shh, it'll be all right."

"How?" she sobbed, and he could see that. "I just… How did this happen? How could this happen? Why…?"

He didn't have an answer for her, and all he could do was continue to hold her tightly, his arms constricting around her. She didn't resist him. She obviously was in dire need of a hug. One that her mother wasn't there to give.

"Are you not going to tell me that I am at fault?" she asked him after several minutes of this. "That he is my father and he is all I will have for life…?"

He moved her away from him, his finger bringing her face up; she resisted at first, but then looked at him, her eyes wet. He sighed, brushing an escaping tear away. "No. Not this time."

She bit her lip, and shook her head, looking up to the sky as if she was trying to make the tears go back inside her. It didn't work – they just kept coming. "Jake I just… I feel as if my world is collapsing. And it all began with Grace…" When he didn't respond in a rebuttal to her statement, she continued. "First Sylwanin. And then my mother. The whole affair and now… Now this…"

He rubbed her back, wondering how to comfort her. But she had her jaw clenched again. Anger had seeped back in. "And Tsu'tey. And Bree." She pulled away from him, standing to her feet as she looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. "And _you._"

He blinked, stunned by this sudden change in events. "Me?" he echoed, pointing at himself. "What the hell did I do?"

"I should never, _ever _have brought you back to the clan! That was the… that was the beginning of all this!" She gave a laugh, as if she was seeing clearly now. She muttered something unintelligible in Na'vi. For one of the several times in Jake's time of knowing her, she was scaring him, but usually it was what she had suggested he try to replicate in training – now he was looking at her as if she wasn't even a Na'vi. "And my mother… She _invited _you in. She told me to look after you, and then you brought _Grace _back into our midst! She actually brought the destroyer of us all in! Eywa… I was such a fool. I was such a little fool. I should have left you to die at the teeth of the _nantang._ Bree never would have come, Grace would have been back at your little human camp, and I would never have had her as a step-mother! Eywa, why did you not say? Why? Why did you keep the secret from me for so long?!

"I wish I was stronger. You have no idea. I know my mother is dead, but I _wish _that it had been Grace. I would give my own life to see her being the one writhing on the floor in her stead! Seeing Eytukan's little whore die would have been the best thing _ever. _Her and that_.._. that thing inside her!"

Jake leapt to his feet, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. That last comment had fired him up. Never, ever, in his entire life, would he have thought she'd say such a thing. Not against Grace. The woman who had raised her, given her everything, taught her about the humans… Deep down he knew she didn't mean it; she was blinded by a rage. He'd never seen her like this –he'd never have imagined her so hostile. She was _pissed_. And now he was. So he said something he never thought he would. "Neytiri, shut the fuck up!"

She growled harshly at him, her hands turning to fists. She looked like she was about to hit him, intentionally this time.

"You wanna know something?" he asked her, a frown creasing his features. "If it wasn't for your father and Grace being together, you would be dead right now!"

The implication was enough to bring her down to Pandora, and she frowned at him, utterly confused. She gave a sarcastic sigh. "Jake, if what you are about to say is going to defend your actions – "

"Yeah! Hear me out, why don't you?" Her ears shot back, and she snarled at him, but she didn't move away. Partly because he still had his hands on her shoulders, but she was also curious what he was going on about. "You want to know the goddamn truth?" he spat, growling. "I was sent here, to kill you. That's right!"

Neytiri's face drained of blood so quickly it was like someone had poked a hole in a gourd and all the water had run out.

"The humans wanted you all dead. They wanted to take your home so they could benefit from it. Because your home was sitting on what they needed. And guess what? With Grace being with your father, it distracted our main leader. _He _wanted Grace for himself. You know, the one who Adaman shot?" Neytiri swallowed, remembering. "His personal problems blinded him from his task, which we should be kissing the ground for, because he wanted me to get you all out, or make you all die. And with him trying so hard to get to Grace, it allowed us to rid of him and the rest of the humans by telling them there was a virus going around. You want to know what your possible future had been, without your father's affair? I would be talking to you through the Tree of Voices to tell you this right now.

"Look I know. I know you don't want to hear this. But you gotta get out of this dark place. Please. What you just said? The Neytiri I know never would have said that… I want her back. Please bring her back. This isn't how I want this story to go, please. I know you're hurting, I know you're mad and you have every right to be, but wishing Grace and her baby dead – your sibling? Your clan mate? Neytiri that is not you at all."

She didn't know what to say. She was still reeling over what she had just learned. Jake had never told her this before. It was just information overload. And what if he was lying? But when she looked into his eyes, she knew he wasn't. She felt so empty, yet so full of knowledge at the same time. She had no idea what to do with that. And the recoil of her words was hitting her. Wishing Grace dead… Perhaps she had thought it in her mind every now and again when Grace did something wrong, or said something she didn't like, but her second thought was always 'She's trying.' Her mother had always taught her that the first thought was what your body was telling you. Your second thought showed who you truly were. And now the second thoughts were slamming into her. She didn't want Grace dead, never. She would have brought her back regardless of her father's involvement with her. She didn't want an innocent child dead either. She felt sick to herself that those words had even come out of her mouth! Who was she…? Was she turning into an empty shell of a Na'vi, devoid of all emotion? Had she just hardened and turned into something so negative? She felt deadly, and it wasn't something she enjoyed. She wondered, if she looked into a pool of water, would she look down at a face she no longer recognised? The thought terrified her.

She slowly nodded at him, looking at the moss-covered floor. "You are right…"

He softened, his ears going down. What he had said had been harsh, and he knew that. That would have been an awful revelation even if he had told her gently. "I know it's a lot to take in… But come on, Neytiri. You know you don't mean what you said. You love Grace, I know you do…"

"I do not understand though. Why did you not tell me this, Jake…? All of it? I thought you were my friend."

He bit his lip. "I am. Neytiri you are my absolute best friend. But… How do you tell someone something like that?"

She stumbled backwards from him, and he let her go. She just put her hands on her knees, leaning far forward. "I cannot… I just…" Wordlessly, she straightened up, pushed some strands of hair out of her face, and walked off.

Jake's ears shot back. His mouth felt dry. He ran after her, reaching out for her arm again. "Neytiri!"

"No." She looked back at him, pushing his shoulder backwards. It was nowhere near as hard as she had done to Eytukan. It was just a light push in the right direction for him. "No. Go back."

"Ney…"

"I want to be alone… Please just give me that." She still had tears running down her cheeks, but her breathing had slowed. Jake slowly shook his head, and took a step towards him, but she held a four-fingered hand up in front of his face. "I need to think. I will return. Just go. Go home, Jake. Go before I say something else that I regret… Go home."

"No. I'm not listening to you," he said, sounding as petulant as a baby. He came to put a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't you, Neytiri. And it is really scaring me right now. I sure as hell am not letting you walk out alone. Especially since it's getting colder." For a moment, he wondered if she was going to fight and run off – she was faster than him, so it wouldn't take long before he lost her in the depth of the forest if she set her mind to it. But she just looked down and away. Completely lost.

So he decided something. He took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Come on," he told her, gently tugging her, heading towards a hunter's trail which would be easier to navigate.

"Where are we going?" she asked softly, wrapping her arms around her body.

"I was thinking to the pond – that always cheers you up."

"It is cold down there."

He looked at her for a long moment. And then, without saying a word, he did something remarkable – he removed the feathers around his shoulders, and put them on hers. Her eyes widened with outright fear, and she tried to pull away from him – the feathers weren't supposed to be on anyone else but the owner. The leader. "Jake, no – "

But he wrapped them around her bare shoulders, and came around to tie the string that kept them on. She struggled for a moment more, before giving in, actually thankful. It did warm her up. "Thank you…"

He nodded, now feeling the chill of the wind himself, but he ignored it. He gestured with his hand for her to lead the way, but she didn't move, so he went first. He had to keep looking back every now and again as they traversed over rocks, fallen logs, through glowing mushrooms and past small pools of water, that she was still following. But she was always still there, not saying a word.

They reached the clearing that was her favourite place. She'd shared it with him months before, where they had both dived into the clear waters and swum in the colourful basin. But she wasn't interested in swimming. Neytiri just moved to sit right next to a tree by the treeline, and he copied her. Nothing was said between them for a long while; they were just enjoying one another's company.

And slowly, bit by bit, the hot anger that had been in Neytiri, replaced by a cold, wallowing sadness, began to lift. She looked to the man she had taught, who had succeeded, who was still there for her. "I am so sorry about what I said…"

"Hmm?" he asked, casting his eyes over to her. "With regards to what?"

She pulled her knees up to herself, and rested her head on them, looking to the side at him. "With what I said. Everything. We both know I did not mean it… But I still said it."

"I'm sorry too, Neytiri. Really, I am… I tried to stop associating with the humans and I did it before any real damage was done. I'm sorry to only have told you now. I'm glad nothing bad really happened to you. Though really, the heroes here were your father and Grace. I mean that."

She looked at him, and nodded. Exhaling, her fingers running along the feathers still on her shoulders. "You were the best thing that ever happened to me, ma Jake."

He gave her a flicker of a smile at the compliment. A surge of warm energy ran through him – utter happiness. "Yeah? Why do you say that?"

"You annoy me. You anger me. But yet you seem to be the only one who…" She struggled to find a way to put it.

" – who gets you," he finished, and she nodded. "I was stuck with you, and only you, for three months. If I don't understand you, I must have been asleep."

He was glad to see a shadow of a smile come over her face. A natural one – not a forced one, not one mixed with something that petrified him. A true smile. But it slowly faded.

"Why did I say all those things…? Am I turning into… Who am I, Jake? I do not know any longer… Maybe I never did."

"I know who you are." She straightened her head, looking right into his eyes. "You are one of my favourite people. And the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

She smiled properly then. "I do not know… Grace showed me photos of Earth women."

"Well, I'm telling you right now, you leave them all for dead. Inside, and out. And you don't even need Photoshop."

She looked confused for a moment at the strange word, but at his grin, she took it as a compliment. "You are sweet." Her eyes cast downwards, looking at the floor, thinking for a moment. Tsyal has never called me beautiful, she realised with a start. 'Alluring', yes. 'Ravishing', once. But not 'beautiful'. She wasn't sure what to make of that, but it was making her frown.

She sighed, seeing his handsome face when she looked back up. She stretched. She didn't want to go back to the clan, but sleep was coming to her. Yelling at Eytukan and Jake had taken it out of her. "Jake?" she asked him gently. He blinked to let her know he was listening. "Do you mind if we stay out here tonight?"

He wondered with the cold how that would work. It wasn't unbearable; just a little uncomfortable. At least she was warm with his feathers. He knew the wise thing would be to head home, but she knew she didn't want to face it tonight. Tomorrow would be a brand new day. He looked around them, feeling the springy grass under his feet. It would be ideal.

They both got off the log, and Jake bid her goodnight, putting his back to the waterfall as he curled in on himself, trying to keep warmth in. But he was shocked when he felt the feathers being placed on his shoulders, and a presence right near him. He turned his head around when he felt skin pressed against his own, and saw her back placed against his. She had tried to stretch the feathers across the two of them so they could both be warm. A smile came to his features as he turned around, his body wrapping around hers. She snuggled in.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded. "Much."

• • •

They woke up, still nestled within each other. Jake's arm was protectively around her, the feathers stretched as far as they could go across them. Neytiri was the first to wake as the coo of prolemuris woke her, and the sun cast dappled rays on her skin through the trees. She blinked, letting her eyes adjust, before looking to her friend. She nudged him gently on his arm. "Jake? Wake up."

His eyes had opened so quickly that she hadn't had to say his name. She smiled a little. As he properly woke, he smiled as well. "Good morning," he greeted. She slowly sat up, letting him keep the feathers as she pulled her knees to her chest again. "Did you sleep all right?"

"Yes. Thank you for not letting me freeze."

"It didn't turn out as cold as I thought." Though he knew perfectly well that was because she had been beside him.

She still felt so guilty over everything she had said. All those words had come out and she couldn't pull them back in. She chewed on the side of her lower lip. "Jake, I am really sorry…"

He rose up as well, sitting with his knees up. He put his hand on her arm. "Come here." She listened, and came in for a hug. "I forgive you. You're going through such a hard time, Neytiri. You know, many people would have completely broken down by now."

"I think I have…"

"You're actually coping better than a lot. You're not heavily drugged up or hurting yourself or… Trust me, you're doing very well."

"I think you had something to do with that."

He closed his eyes as he hugged her close. This wasn't about his feelings for her. This wasn't about sex. Not in the slightest. This was about him, looking out for his friend. And he knew the minute they went back to the clan, she'd go and find Tsyal. And for once, he was all right with it – he knew she would be fine. And that was all that mattered.

"We better go back," she said lowly. "I want to… apologise to da. What I said…"

"It wasn't you," Jake finished.

"See? You understand me."

He smiled, and the two pulled away from each other, just lost in each other's eyes. He stood up first, and helped her to her feet, before the two walked, their hands close, back through the forest and to the clan.


	10. A Bad Memory

**Chapter Ten | A Bad Memory**

"_**Sylwanin,**_**" he said slowly, waiting for her to look at him before he said, "**_**What is going on?**_**"**

"_Well that went fantastically, didn't it?_" Grace was pacing around their quarters, whilst Eytukan was sitting on the hammock, not sharing his mate's concern. He had bid her to rest her feet initially, but when he had, she'd turned and snapped at him that she wasn't yet at the stage where she had to be bound to the bed and she'd be damned if he made her start early.

He sighed, watching her walk up and down. It was giving him a headache. "_Gracie, come on,_" he began, getting to his feet. He came over to take her shoulders, making her look at him. "_That is Neytiri. She's headstrong and over-confident. That's the daughter you and I love. I'm not sure where she gets it from but that's who she is._"

"_I'm not fretting the fact that she didn't return last night, I'm fretting that this might be the send-off she needs to never return at all._"

"_Oh, Gracie – _"

"_No, I'm serious, Eytu._" The sky was rose and gold as the sun broke over Tárontxar. She pulled away from him, moving to the side of the room. She watched the light spread from the top of Hometree, seeing the forest lose its bioluminescence and turning into a more traditional form of rainforest. Her eyes searched over the members who were already starting their day. It was unusual for her mate to not be down there with them already.

"_Neytiri is a strong woman_," he told her. He had nearly said 'girl'. She was no longer that. "_And she's smart. I think we are giving her too little credit._" He sighed, knowing that truly pertained to him. He had underestimated her, as he always did. He always had done. And he knew it was his own transgressions that caused her to react the way she did. "_She has her father in her veins, that's the truth._"

"_Stop saying it like that._"

"_Like what?_"

Grace looked over to her mate. She pursed her lips, wondering how to put this. The last thing she wanted was an argument, but she had to ask. "_You know, ever since we found out about our baby, you've been referring to your own daughter as not your own more than you ever have before?_"

He regarded her for a long moment. There was a look in his eyes she couldn't read. The way his tail turned rigid told her he was tensing to say something in retaliation, and honestly, she was waiting for it. She wanted an answer to it. They had been together over a decade. In that time, he had mentioned twice of Neytiri's questionable parentage, once counting when he had brought it up explicitly to her seven months ago. In the space of a month, he'd mentioned it over ten times. Was this the attitude he had towards his child? To abandon her when something better came along? It was a dark thought, and it sent shivers down her spine. How many times had she heard the story of people remarrying, a new child is born, and that child becomes the instant favourite? She couldn't blame Neytiri for running if she did – perhaps it was a pre-emptive move.

There came no answer. Only stillness hung in the air. She waited for an answer that wasn't coming, either because he was unaware of it, or he didn't know how to word it. She nearly turned around to tell him to forget it, when she saw movement over his shoulder. He followed her gaze, and breathed out in relief.

There she stood, in the entrance to the area, as perfect as she had been when she left. "_Good morning,_" Neytiri greeted, folding her arms behind her back. Her tail flicked involuntarily – her mood had obviously changed. And as she glanced downwards, and murmured, "_I'm sorry_," it was clear she wasn't looking for another fight.

Eytukan sighed, and came forward to give her a hug. She must have been shocked by his action, as initially she didn't respond, but she gripped him back after a few moments. "_Me too_," he murmured to her, kissing the top of her head.

She gave him a wan smile. As they pulled away, simultaneously they both said 'I see you'. Blinking once, she cast her eyes over to Grace. The princess could see the relief on her step-mother's face, and immediately recalled what she had said the night before. She could only be thankful she hadn't actually said it out loud to her. They did the Na'vi greeting, which she instigated. Tentatively, she stepped forward, and was glad as Grace did too. They both opened their arms for a hug, each giving a nervous laugh as they embraced. "_I'm sorry,_" she said to which she got the response of, "_So am I. We haven't exactly been… open about everything._"

"_Well, every… marriage has its secrets, right?_" Neytiri murmured, letting go of her teacher. The woman she had always wished could be a real mother to her. And now she was. She cast her eyes between the duo, and was suddenly not unfamiliar to the fact that she must have walked in on something. "_I'm sorry, is this a bad time?_"

The leaders looked at one another, and simultaneously said, "_No._"

"_Actually, we were discussing something that concerns you,_" Grace said, gesturing for them all to sit down. At that movement, Eytukan retrieved three woven mats from the corner of the room for them to sit on. Once placed down, they all sat in a circle. "_We actually had two announcements last night._"

Neytiri grimaced, realising she was the reason they'd only had the one.

"_And actually – I feel asinine for saying it, but your departure actually was beneficial. We need to run this by you before anyone else._"

Eytukan, who until that moment had been confused by what his mate was bringing up, realised. When Grace looked at him, his daughter followed her gaze, and he knew she was leaving it up to him to explain. "_It seems your aunt and uncle have gotten in contact with us. Wanting to see all of us._"

At the outside, Neytiri was confused. She slowly nodded, saying a simple, "_Oh._" But as she looked between her father and Grace's worried faces, understanding clicked. _Your aunt and uncle. _Her eyes bulged for a moment and she let out a deep breath, trying to find solace by staring at the floor. "_Oh._"

"_I want to be clear, we are not making you go,_" he quickly said, reaching out to take her hand. She glanced back at him.

"_We wouldn't force that on you,_" Grace chimed in.

Neytiri slowly looked at her. She suddenly felt naked – open and exposed. She took her hand back from her father, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. She bit her lip. "_So you know._"

Her step-mother nodded. "_Yes._"

"_Of course you do_," she said with a sarcastic snicker. The Tsan'ten's most closely guarded secret and she knew. _"I always forget the royals never have any privacy._"

"_Neytiri,_" Grace quickly jumped in, seeing Eytukan about to open his mouth to protest. She could see the princess beginning to retreat, and she had to bring her back. "_It's good that I do._"

"_Really? Did it happen to you?_"

There was silence. Neytiri's ears went down and she looked away, wondering if she'd stepped over a line within just a few heartbeats of repairing the problems. Grace looked at her mate imploringly, and he understood the silent message communicated between them. He stood up and left the room, which his daughter suddenly became anxious about. She looked back over to her step-mother.

"No, it didn't," Grace said softly in English to her. "And I'm sorry it happened to you. But believe me, I do know how it feels.

"On Earth, it was very different. And I know in the near twenty years I've been away, nothing has changed. They are still a completely patriarchal society. Your kind are not. There may be some who stray from that but the fact doesn't change that you feel alienated because you think you're the only one it ever happened to. I can safely promise you, you are not. On Earth it was taboo. It happened every day and it was something we still couldn't talk about. Here it rarely happens. But I can absolutely promise you, it does. And it's horrible and it's degrading but you know what? Look at you now, Neytiri, look where you are. Look at who you are. You're now untouchable."

And it was all she could do but look at her. Neytiri just looked at Grace, in absolute awe. She let out a gasp, and shook her head slowly. "How do you do it?" she asked softly. "I criticised you. I have not been supportive. But… I admire you. I admire..." She suddenly couldn't remember the word in English, so she finished with, "_I admire your resolve._" And how could she not? The Religious Leader of the Omaticaya Clan, Grace Augustine-Tsan'ten, had not had the easiest time since adopting the last name and the title she had. It was thrust upon her, ultimately. There were words said about her, incriminating words that if she properly heard them, she would never get out of bed in the morning.

"You admire mine? I admire yours." A flicker of a smile came over Grace's face, but it was fleeting. Just as she had done when Neytiri was a child, she took her four-fingered hand in her own five-fingered one, her thumb pressing down into her palm. She leaned forward, almost as if she were imparting a secret to her. "Most of life is hell. It's filled with failure and loss. People disappoint you, dreams don't work out, hearts get broken. Innocent people die. Yet the best moments of life, when everything comes together, they are few and far between. But you will never get to the next moment if you don't keep going. So that's what I do. And what you must do, too_._"

**Twelve Years Ago**

In one of the tents in Tórukä Ná'rìng, in the Zeppan clan, Neytiri gave herself to the darkness.

She'd do what she always did, and tuck the woven blankets around herself. She tightened them so much that she was almost a cocoon, but she liked to pretend she was on a boat in these times. In a boat leaving far from here. Perhaps to the North, where she heard it snowed. She would like to see snow. Or perhaps to the East, to play with the massive beasts that were said to be as friendly as common dogs. Or even better, a chance to leave this world altogether. Surely there was a place, far from where she was, where men didn't treat young girls with such hardness and cruelty. Perhaps there was a place she could go to bed and not wake up in pain.

She shivered and drew the blanket over her head. She slept, woke weeping, and slept again. When she could not sleep she lay under her blankets, shivering with an unknown emotion. She was too young. She felt so humiliated, so repulsed… At least that was how she would feel when she was a bigger girl, and looking back on the past. All she knew right now was that she was alone, and she would have given anything to receive a hug from her mother, or her sister. The latter was a better choice.

She must have somehow drifted off to sleep because the next thing she knew was that she was being awoken. She squealed and drew away from the touch, scared of the adult hand that hurt. But it was a smaller and softer. "_Do not fret, it's me! It's me, sweet sister!_"

Nervously, she peeked out from the blanket, and when she saw the familiar nightly glow of Sylwanin in the dark, her squeal of nervousness turned to delight, and she burst out from her hiding place. She managed to wrap her arms around her older sister's neck, and felt herself getting the hug she had wanted.

"_There, there,_" Sylwanin murmured, kissing Neytiri's forehead softly. "_I'm home, it's all right. It's all right…_"

Neytiri gave a sniffle. She felt the tears coming again. "_I thought you were g-gone… Forever and ever…_"

"_And leave you? I'd never go too far away_," she promised, running a soothing hand through the little girl's hair, which caused Neytiri's eyes to well up so much she might as well have been under water.

There was a silence, before she felt her elder sister sniffing her. She pulled away, and muttered a word she knew she wasn't supposed to say, let alone know. But Sylwanin was six years older – she had more freedom. "_They came for you, again? I wasn't gone for even a day!_"

"_They always come…_"

There was the sound of Sylwanin exhaling. "_Oh Neytiri, I'm so sorry! Eywa…_" In the darkness, it looked like she was scratching her face. It took Neytiri a little while to understand that she was crying, which made her feel even worse. "_That's it. I cannot… I cannot be here anymore._"

"_I'll come with you!_"

"_I meant to say 'we'. But I think for the first time, I'll have to go alone._"

Neytiri was confused. She didn't know where her elder sister meant, but she didn't like the fact of being left behind. "_Go where?_"

"_You weren't even born yet. But years ago, we visited another clan. Our Uncle Eytukan is the leader of it._" The word 'uncle' brought nerves to Neytiri, and she told her sister so. "_Something tells me he's a far better man than any of the ones we know. I'll go to him._"

"_And do what?_"

"_I… I don't know. I'll ask for his help, I can do that. He came across as the type to do anything for anyone in his power._ _I don't know where his clan is, but I can figure it out. And once I get there, I'll tell him all that's happened, and he'll bring you and mother over then._"

"_Sylwanin, you can't! You might get lost! I may never see you again! Mother will be mad…!_" But that didn't scare Neytiri in the slightest. The fact of losing her sister terrified her more than the wrath of their mother. There wasn't much fight left in her any way. The weariness she felt coupled with the threat of losing her sister, the only positive in her life, terrified the child, and she burst into tears properly.

Sylwanin hushed her gently, kissing her forehead. "_You will thank me, one day. I'm sure of it. I can feel it in my bones. Our lives will be changed, Neytiri, we won't have to live in fear any longer!_"

"_You can't go without me! You can't, you can't!_ _Your life might become worse for doing it!_"

And even in the darkness, she could figure out exactly Sylwanin's face – the steeled determination, the protection in her eyes. "_For you, I will try. For us. I will be back as fast as I can, I promise._"

"_Sylwanin?_"

"_Yes, darling?_"

She didn't know how to phrase it. She may be young but she was smart. If they hadn't seen him in six years, who was to say how the reunion would go. "_Why would he help us?_"

The man faced Eytukan with absolute power in his eyes. He looked right at his opponent, unconcerned. Around him, the warriors had formed a ring, their eyes set right on their leader and his challenger. The man gave him a smirk; he responded with just a blank look.

The man gave a sudden, almighty roar, alerting him to move effortlessly to the side so he charged with nothing to break the inevitable fall. There was a melody of laughter as the opponent fell to the floor, before getting right up again and trying the same move. Eytukan felt like he could do this all day – he found himself dodging, parrying, and blocking every move without really going on the defensive. He watched his opponent and said calmly, "_Still think you can beat me?_"

He got a breathless laugh in response. "_With my hands tied behind my back!_"

"_Come and get me, then._"

But on and on it went, until he saw the ring of his warriors getting bored. So on the umpteenth attempt by his opponent to attack him, he did something different: he grabbed the wrist that was thrust out to him, twisted it around, hit the elbow quickly and kicked out the back of his knee, safely drawing him to the ground. He still held onto his wrist as he said, "_Well, you didn't beat me, but you hand is tied behind your back._"

"_I forfeit, I forfeit!_"

Eytukan quickly let go, and extended a hand to help him up. They blinked at one another once before his opponent, tired and sweaty, moved back into the ring. "_An excellent tip for you all_," he said, speaking with the same confidence and presence that had won him the throne, "_Tire out your opponent. It makes it easier._" When there was some laughter, he added, "_Though I must commend Ateyo on his fighting skills. Very good to go on the offensive. Always try to. Though sometimes, defensive can work._"

Ateyo gave a bow of his head to consent to the advice, and the group broke up. Eytukan fell into step beside the man he had been fighting. It was only practice – there was only camaraderie between them at any other time. "_You did fight well_," he complimented. "_You've got stamina, I'll give you that._"

"_Not as much as you, though!" _came the raucous laugh. "_I'll have to get back into proper training if I want to make second-in-command._"

"_Relax. You will be. You've had a lot on your mind with your new family._"

"_I've been mated for ten years, Eytukan. I have a ten year old son. I can assure you, that's not the reason._" He sent a wry smile in his leader's direction. "_See? This is why you yourself need to start a family. Children serve as constant, in-your-face time pieces. They mark what would otherwise be a relentless succession of heartbeats and seasons into something more meaningful._"

"_I lead over five hundred children. Is that not enough?_" And while it may have come off as a joke, as Ateyo laughed and agreed as he left, it wasn't to him. Everyone was always on his back about finding a mate and settling down to have children. He didn't see the need. At 39 years of age, he found contentment in his role as _olo'eyktan _of the Omaticaya Clan. The current _tsahík _was doing her job well and they didn't need to be mated. As it was, she already had a mate – she just filled in. He liked that just fine.

As he walked alone amongst the members, seeing some building the fire in preparation for that evening, he felt happy. If anyone were to look into his eyes, they'd see that – he was. Isolated behaviour was strange amongst Na'vi, but he'd always been a little different. Yet perhaps if he were completely alone, in the forest with no one around for an extended period of time, he'd discover that his love of being self-sufficient was due to the fact he still had people around, and just relished in the idea of being alone amongst the sea of everyone else.

Besides, with every member that tried to seek him out at some stage during the day, he was never truly alone. "_Eytukan!_" He turned around to see Adaman walking briskly over to him. He'd always found his movements amusing, mainly for the fact his best friend was not a warrior or hunter in the slightest. One look at the way he moved – with loud, hard footsteps – told anyone around he wasn't part of the hunting party.

"_Slow down, would you?" _Adaman asked.

" '_Slow down'? I'm not even jogging. I can make this a race if you really want me to._"

"_Do not even think about it!_" Finally, the head healer reached him, shaking himself off with a laugh. He touched his fingers to his forehead and extended them out to Eytukan, who did the same. He eyed the leader up and down. "_Were you not just in training?_"

"_Yes._"

"_Eywa, you haven't even broken a sweat. How do you do it?_" And then, a devious grin came over Adaman's face, lighting up his eyes. "_Did you beat Ateyo Ranec to the dust?_"

"_I really cannot fathom why you find him so intolerable. I think he's one of the nicest around._"

"_He gives me this terrible vibe. I promise you, Tsan'ten, one day you will see it, too._"

"_If you say so_, _brother,_" Eytukan said, a glimmer of mirth in his eyes. He assumed that meant the conversation concerning the other member was over, but Adaman kept going, much to his displeasure.

"_Just every time I go past him, he seems to just… judge me for not becoming a warrior. You know, I bet he's wishing he could find some excuse to take me on. And he's got this really awful temper, too, so you just know he's going to…_" Adaman trailed off as he noticed his friend had stopped paying complete attention to his words, focusing on something behind him. He swallowed, the bravado suddenly disappearing. "_Oh Eywa, he's not behind me, is he?_" But when he turned around, he instead saw some commotion several paces away at the treeline. As he watched the scene, he realised it was one of the scouting parties returning early. It looked as if they had picked something up on their trail.

Eytukan quickly headed over to the group, seeing more members had come over to see what had happened. Two of his members were kneeling down on the floor, and as he came closer, he realised the reason behind it. His breath caught in his throat: Pexa, one of the scouts, was carrying a young girl.

"_What happened?_" he quickly asked, his penetrating voice silencing all the questions of the over members.

Pexa cast her topaz eyes up to his. "_We found her near the waterfall. Out cold. We don't know anything more than that._"

He knelt down now, feeling himself surrounded by what seemed to be the majority of the Omaticaya clan. No secrets were kept around here – everyone knew everything the moment it happened. He glanced over her quickly, seeing no obvious injuries. "_Adaman?_" he called, wanting a second and proper opinion.

In an instant, the healer was kneeling beside him, looking her over. "_I think it's just exhaustion and dehydration. Either way, I cannot treat her here._"

Pexa gave a blink and began to pick up the young girl, but Eytukan beat her to it, picking her up. For looking over the oval face, seeing the individual stripes that marked her, he knew exactly who she was.

"_That's the best I can do for her. The rest is in Eywa's hands_," Adaman said. He had missed dinner for trying to revive her, to no avail. She was still breathing. He assumed she just needed some more rest. Both he and his friend watched the subtle breathing, as if needing proof she was still alive. He pulled away to give his diagnosis to Eytukan. "_But I was right. Severe dehydration, over-exhaustion. I wonder where she came from._"

Eytukan didn't so much as glance in his direction as he said, "_The Zeppan clan._"

"_How do you know that?_"

He realised he'd said too much, and now he couldn't get out of it. He had felt like it was necessary to keep her identity to himself until he talked to her, but now he had no choice. "_That's Sylwanin._"

A multitude of expressions ran over Adaman's face: from shock to disbelief to uncertainty. He gave a snort of laughter. "_I really doubt that – _"

"_It is, I can promise you that._"

"_Goodness,_" he said, his face settling on shock now. He turned back to his patient, breathing out slowly. "_You're far from home. What are you doing here?_"

"_My question is, what is she doing alone?_" Eytukan added. He felt a strange tightening in his chest as he looked over her. She had grown since he last saw her but she still looked so small and fragile. How old was she now? Twelve? He bit his lip and then said, "_Adaman, go get some dinner. I'll sit with her._"

Initially Adaman looked wary, but he had to concede to the leader's request, so he turned and left. Once he was gone, Eytukan sat on the floor of the medical centre, and prepared himself to be sitting there for a long time. His heart beat fast, every pulse filled with concern. 'What are you doing here?' he could only wonder, and pray that she'd awake to answer.

As he predicted, he sat for a long while. Adaman came with a bowl of soup for him, but he was far too worked up to even touch it. He told his friend to get some rest, and when he began to protest, Eytukan pointed out that he needed to be well-rested in order to properly look after her when she woke. It was only around dawn when her eyes began to flutter, and she looked directly at him.

She was obviously bewildered for several moments, but as he became less of a mirage and something that was staying, she seemed to relax. She smacked her dry lips together and murmured throatily, "_Is it really you?_"

He breathed out in relief, and blinked once at her. "_Yes._"

A soft smile came over her face. She was still dazed and drowsy, her eyelids still heavy from over sleeping. He came closer to the hammock she lay in, kneeling beside her so they were directly at eye-level. "_I found you then?_" she whispered.

He returned the smile. "_No, we found you,_" he murmured. As she blinked more rapidly, and slowly tried to sit up, he quickly moved his hand to give her some support as the hammock swayed under her. "_How do you feel? I should go get Adaman._"

"_No, wait – " _ She put her arm out to grab his own weakly as he began to stand, and he moved back down to his previous position. "_I came to find you. I need to talk to you._"

He frowned, wondering what she meant by that. A whole sordid situation dawned upon him. "_Your mother – _"

"_She's fine. Well, as fine as one could be, I guess…_" He looked at her, completely puzzled as she drifted off. She got lost back in her thoughts, and she seemed to close her eyes as if to fall back to sleep, so he gently shook her arm. Her eyes flashed open again. "_Sorry I feel…_"

"_It's all right,_" he whispered, hushing her gently. "_What's wrong, little foot?_"

The smile came back to her features. "_I forgot you called me that…_"

He smiled back at her, taking her soft hand into his calloused one. "_What's going on?_"

She wet her lips, looking away from him now and focusing at a spot in front of her. She didn't actually appear to see anything in front of her. "_I don't know where to begin_," she said after several moments of silence. He realised that there were tears collecting in her eyes.

"_Well," _he began hesitantly, "_Isn't that the best place? The beginning?_" She looked back to him, her eyes wet with unshed tears. He squeezed her hand softly. "_What's happening, Sylwanin?_"

Suddenly, she began to shiver, and at first he thought she felt cold, but then she swung her legs over the side of the hammock, and tried to rise unsteadily to her feet. "_Whoa, hold on - !_" he began, trying to ease her back down by putting his hands on her shoulders, but she suddenly screamed as if she were being hit with a hot iron. He put his hands up and stood up to edge away from her as she got to her feet, wobbly like a newborn foal.

"_I shouldn't have come… Neytiri was right, I never should have come here!_" she cried.

'Neytiri?' he wondered to himself, but she tried to run past him, her legs tottering which made it easy for him to grab her arm to steady her. "_Calm down!_" he soothed, trying to calm her before she woke up the entire clan. He was thoroughly perplexed; first his scouts find Sylwanin, Mo'at's daughter who he hadn't seen in six years, and then she tries to ask for his help and then changes her mind. He had a half a mind to bring Adaman in – he was always better with dealing with rogue patients.

She fought against his touch, but he was stronger. Unfortunately, he resisting her made her scream again, so he just let her go, at a loss of what to do. "_Sylwanin – Sylwanin, have sense!_" he called desperately as she tried to make her way to the entrance. "_You sought me out. You obviously need some kind of help. Did you honestly expect to come all this way and then not get whatever it is you need?_"

That made her stop. Her ears went back, and she turned back around to face him. The tears had spilled out now, and she collapsed to her knees, sobbing. He came to sit beside her, but didn't touch her – it obviously set her off. Her tail was slack, her ears down. He sighed, glad she was slightly quieter. "_Let me help you,_" he murmured, watching her.

She sniffed. "_It's not just me you'd have to help…_"

"_That's fine. I'll do my best but I can only do that if you tell me what's happening._" She sat back on her haunches, pulling her knees up to her chest and burying her face in them. "_Now tell me, who is Neytiri?_"

There was silence for a long moment, until she finally said, "_My little sister._"

His ears perked up at this. He tried to process that as quickly and invisibly as possible. "_Right. So, you both need help?_"

"_Yes… And mother, too._"

He was really paying attention now. He hadn't seen Mo'at in years. He often wondered what had become of her. And now here her daughter was, asking for help for all of them. Worry pierced his heart. "_Sylwanin,_" he said slowly, waiting for her to look at him before he said, "_What is going on?_"

"_Eywa, you must be joking. Surely that didn't actually happen!_" Adaman exclaimed.

The two were sitting in the royal's lounge, on woven mats across from one another as Eytukan quietly explained what he'd been told. "_Seems like it has,_" he murmured, his face grim.

"_Oh, I doubt it,_" Adaman said, getting up to cross the room to stand at the entrance. "_She's young. She probably mistook what was happening. You know, these days, there's so many boundaries in what one can and can't do, she probably got confused. And undoubtedly her mother got into her head._"

"_I don't know, Adaman, confusion doesn't generally cause someone to scream the way she did when I merely touched her shoulder._" The healer waved it off. "_You weren't there. I've never seen someone react that way. So no I don't think this is 'confusion'."_

"_Look, it just doesn't seem plausible. Fah'ruk? Really? I doubt he'd do something like that. This is the sort of behaviour associated with rogue Na'vi._"

"_You know how you always accused Ateyo of having a shiftiness about him? I feel that way about Fah'ruk._ _I really wouldn't put it past him._"

Adaman breathed out slowly, massaging his temples with his fingers. He slowly turned back around to Eytukan with a disbelieving scowl. "_I'm just scared you're going to start a whole feud between the clans._"

"_Think about it, brother – if this is what happens in the Zeppan clan, do we really want to be affiliated with them?_"

He held his tongue, giving a long sigh. "_You always had a soft spot for Mo'at. Everyone knows that._"

"_This isn't about that. This is about protecting our fellow Na'vi. Now you can either help me, or stand aside, but you cannot stop me._"

He looked at Eytukan, and saw the raw determination in his eyes. He knew perfectly well that whenever he was set in something, he rarely – if ever – changed his mind. And eventually, he had to agree that what he was saying was true. There was no point keeping an alliance with someone who was detrimental to their own kind. "_All right,_" he eventually murmured, blinking his eyes once. Eytukan's eyes shifted from determination to cheerfulness. "_But I have to say, you do have a penchant for bringing drama into this clan. Now we have the new laws coming in, your past coming back to the clan and the whole human issue. You haven't forgotten that, have you?_"

'How could I not?' Eytukan thought to himself. The strange, foreign aliens who had set up camp not too far from them. They were impossible to forget with their strange ways and their strange looks: olive and white skin, short in stature and no tail or moving ears. How queer. They'd been around for years, but now they were embarking on something that made him actually tremble at the thought. "_The so-called 'Avatar'," _he began, the word tasting strange on his tongue, "_should be coming in the next season. Apparently they won't be so different to us._"

Adaman balked at the word. He knew what it meant – it had been explained to him – and it sounded terrifying. "_Humans… so abnormal. They terrify me._"

"_Your own shadow would terrify you,_" Eytukan quipped, earning a sharp slap on his arm from his friend's tail. "_Either way, there will be five coming._"

"_What are their names?_"

Eytukan had to think for a moment, trying to recall the foreign sounding words. "_Anthony, Connor, Grace, Ishita and someone else who I cannot remember the name of. I'll be assigning them members of the clan to be shown around. And I'll be putting Grace, I think her name is, with you._"

"_Excuse me?_" Adaman felt like an arrow had just been lodged in his arm. He could only stare at Eytukan, quite certain the essence of his mind had been taken by Eywa.

He got a comforting smile in return. "_Relax. She's a type of healer of their kind._"

'Good to know,' Adaman thought. The doctor would be with him? His expression darkened. "_Forgive me, but I suppose I can't really think of a human following me like a child follows their mother_."

"_You will be fine,_" Eytukan promised.

"_If that is so, why can't you take her?_"

"_Because I now have to deal with the fact that a new family will be joining the clan,_" he said simply, giving Adaman's hair a ruffle before leaving the lounge. The healer could only sigh and watch him go. He trusted his leader's judgment, as he was meant to, but sometimes he wondered if he let too many personal feelings get in the way of a supposedly unbiased role.

**Present Day**

As the morning dawned bright, Adaman headed down the stairs, marching right to the medical centre. The strong, purposeful way he walked drew many looks from the clan members. Anger in the head healer was not something they were accustomed to seeing. And this anger only developed more as he saw Hari sitting lazily on one of the hammocks inside, sipping at a bowl of broth. "_You know_," Adaman began, catching the younger healer's attention, "_you can have breakfast with the clan. I never asked you to be here constantly._"

A smile twitched at Hari's lips. "_It's always good to be prepared. I can go get you a bowl if you want._"

"_Yes, why don't you do that? You seem to have a knack for doing things for me, don't you?_"

The smile slowly faded. "_Are we still talking about broth?_"

"_Like fuck, we're talking about broth!_" Adaman's eyes narrowed as he snarled at the young male. Despite not being a warrior, he took some pleasure in seeing him seem to retreat in on himself, pulling away.

Hari slowly put the bowl down and swung his feet over the hammock, looking up and blinking once. "_So what are we discussing?"_

He was so angry, he'd bitten his lip, and he could taste blood over his teeth. "_When you find out something concerning the well-being of our leaders, you especially come and discuss it with me._"

There was a long silence, before the younger started to laugh.

"_Hari, do me a favour and don't laugh at this. I'm not being funny._"

"_Oh, but it is!_ _Oh Adaman, do you not see the irony?_" He got off the hammock, standing up to his full height which was a head taller than him. He hated that – the boy was barely 20 and he was taller. "_You asked me to treat Grace. Remember? So I did. It just so happened that it turned out more positive than negative._"

"_I understand that. But like I just said, you always tell me if something like that happens. Eytukan and I go a very long way back and I'm always the one who treats his family. It was simply because Grace didn't feel comfortable with me treating her in that manner._"

"_Whatever happened to patient-healer exclusivity?_ _I treated her, Adaman, not you. You have to remember that. So that means whatever the outcome is, I know, and you do not._"

"_What did I just – look, never mind, we're going around in circles." _He sighed, shaking his head. His tail was rigid, and his hands were clenched. "_Next time, you tell me these things! When it comes to the Tsan'ten's, that is my territory. Has been for years. And do not throw at me that Grace is an Augustine – " _he began when Hari opened his mouth to protest._ "Understand?_"

"_I see but, do let me know, Adaman – when it comes to orders from you, and then orders from the leader himself, which one do I listen to?_"

This was enough to stop any argument springing to his lips. He couldn't understand how the conversation, which he had been in control of, had suddenly switched. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He was at an absolute loss of what to say. And as he saw the glimmer in Hari's eyes, it was the clear the youngster was happy for it to be that way. "_They told you to keep it from me?_" he asked hoarsely, some disbelief tainting his words.

Hari blinked. "_You know what they say about boundaries – they change when power shifts. Maybe you ought to keep an eye on them._" With a final meaningful look, he gave the slightest of smirks and left.


End file.
